CBI books senior BCCL officers for illegal payment of Rs 22 crore

The CBI has booked some senior officers of public sector undertaking Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) for allegedly siphoning off Rs 22.16 crore through illegal payment routed through a Dhanbad-based company, officials said Friday.

In its FIR, the investigation agency has booked BCCL officers posted in the Bastacolla area, including then General Manager P K Dubey, Additional General Manager A K Jha, Area Survey Officer M K Singh, Project Officer B K Jha, Colliery Managers N C Ghosh and Arun Kumar, Colliery Surveyor Lalan Kumar Singh, and AT-Libra BPL (JV) represented through Rahul Singh.

It is alleged that during 2015-18, these public servants entered into a criminal conspiracy with Singh to cheat BCCL Dhanbad by showing excess removal of overburden to the tune of 35.30 lakh cubic metre by making false entries in measurement books for which an alleged illegal payment of Rs 22.16 crore was made to Singh's company.

In mining lexicon, overburden is the layer of earth, including soil and rock, which is to be removed to access ore deposits at open cast mines.

The company AT-Libra BPL (JV) was given a work order in 2012 by BCCL Dhanbad for removal of coal and overburden for a period of 72 months.

The company submitted fake inflated monthly running bills purportedly showing excess removal which were cleared by the accused BCCL officials on the basis of joint measurement recorded in measurement books containing progressive figures of total volume excavated, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged.

"The monthly running bills were paid after deducting the previous progressive figure of excavated volume from subsequent progressive figure. AT-Libra (JV) was given extension for additional 625 days for completion of ongoing contractual work," the FIR alleged.

During a surprise check done by CBI officials and BCCL using 3D laser scanning machines in March last year, it surfaced that officials, in their measurement books, showed excess removal of overburden to the tune of 35.30 lakh cubic metre by making false entries for which a payment of Rs 22.16 crore was made to the company and a corresponding gain to themselves.