ONGC ex-manager Sonkar convicted in graft case after 16 year trial

A special CBI court in Ahmedabad has sentenced a former ONGC manager to three years of rigorous imprisonment in a 2006 case of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, officials said here.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh on the accused, Kishanram Hiralal Sonkar, after the protracted trial.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered an FIR against Sonkar, then Manager, F&A, ONGC, Ankleshwar in 2006 for allegedly amassing illicit assets to the tune of Rs 14.11 lakh between 2002 and 2006 which were 84 per cent over his known sources of income.

During the investigation, the CBI detected nearly eight lakh worth of disproportionate assets, taking the total illicit wealth to Rs 22.15 lakh under his possession, they said.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet in 2008 after which a long legal battle ensued, culminating in Sonkar's conviction by the special court in Ahmedabad, they said.