NEW DELHI, Oct 17:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Srinagar Zonal Office, on Friday filed a Prosecution Complaint (charge sheet) before a Special PMLA Court against Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, the then Chief Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Kashmir, and four others in a money laundering case.
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The accused include Rajnish Bal, Mohammad Amin Wani, Nisar Ahmad Bhat, and Imran Baba, a partner in Baba Enterprises.
The Court has also issued pre-cognizance notices to the accused persons. The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Srinagar, against the officials for the misappropriation of Government funds.
The ED probe revealed that the accused PHED officials, in criminal conspiracy with M/s Baba Enterprises, misappropriated funds during the procurement of spare parts for water filtration plants, causing a wrongful loss to the public exchequer.
The investigation found that Ghulam Mohammad Bhat and other members of the Departmental Procurement Committee, in connivance with Imran Baba, awarded a tender to M/s Baba Enterprises without following due procedure.
Undue favours included not floating a separate tender for additional procurement worth Rs 2.30 crore, and failing to collect the requisite security deposits. While the total security deposit should have been Rs 7 lakh, only Rs 1 lakh was taken. The delivery period for the materials was also improperly extended from 30 days to 90 days.
Furthermore, the ED investigation revealed that M/s Baba Enterprises received Rs 3.54 crore from PHED but paid only Rs 1.55 crore to the original supplier, M/s Industrial Devices (India) Private Limited, New Delhi.
The remaining Rs 1.56 crore was diverted and used to acquire immovable properties in Srinagar, including 18 marla of land in Barinambal and 27.5 marla of land in Hyderpora. The ED has attached these properties, worth Rs. 1.56 crore. Further investigation into the matter is ongoing. (UNI)
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