UP: ED registers case over irregularities in Gomti river front project

The ED has registered a money laundering case to probe alleged irregularities in the Rs 1,500 crore Gomti river front development project in Uttar Pradesh's capital Lucknow, officials said.

The central probe agency has registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) did so taking cognisance of a CBI FIR that was registered in the case in December last year.

The ED will probe if the alleged tainted funds generated in the case were laundered and ploughed to create illegal assets by the accused, officials said.

The agency will soon issue summonses to those named in the complaint, including eight engineers of the state government.

The CBI had taken over the investigation into the case after the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government ordered an inquiry into the beautification project of the Gomti river front.

The project was carried out by the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) dispensation.

The Uttar Pradesh government had asked for an investigation into irregularities committed with a "criminal intent" in the implementation of the Gomti River Channelisation Project and the Gomti River Front Development by the states Department of Irrigation.

The CBI had filed an FIR against the then chief engineers Gulesh Chandra, S N Sharma, Qazim Ali, the then superintendent engineers Mangal Yadav, Akhil Raman, Kamaleshwar Singh, Roop Singh Yadav and executive engineer Surendra Yadav.

Gulesh Chandra, Mangal Yadav, Akhil Raman and Roop Singh Yadav have retired.

The state government had constituted a committee, under retired Allahabad High Court judge Alok Kumar Singh, which had indicated prima facie irregularities in the project in its report dated May 16, 2017.

The Uttar Pradesh police had registered a case on June 19 on the basis of this report.

The state government subsequently sought a CBI probe into the matter on July 17 last year.

The Centre referred the matter to the CBI on November 24, 2017 on the basis of which the agency took over investigation into the matter.