Rourkela: A team of 30 CBI officials Wednesday conducted simultaneous raids on the residences and offices of two deputy general managers (DGMs) of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) suspecting kickbacks to the tune of Rs50 lakh during purchase of electrical equipment.
Six teams comprising the sleuths from Bhubaneswar and Rourkela also raided the office of an industrial supplier in Civil Township who supplied the material to RSP.
Following an order from the head office in New Delhi, the officials of the central investigating agency searched Sector-20 quarter of AK Karmakar, a DGM of material management department and Sector-4 quarter of DGM Harekrushna Behera of Cokeoven electrical division of the steel plant.
The operation continued for about two hours.
Similarly, another team raided the office of supplying agency Pradeep Trading Company at
Civil Township while two other teams verified the documents related to the supply at the respective departments of the tainted officials. Many objectionable documents have been seized by the sleuths, it was learnt.
The officials also checked the bank lockers and accounts of the duo on charge of accumulating wealth disproportionate to their known sources of earning.
According to reports, the two DGMs were involved in the procurement process of electrical equipment which was finalised in favour of Pradeep Trading Company in 2013-14 fiscal.
The firm had quoted an abnormally high price of the product which was much more than the market price. The officials issued the purchase order and passed the invoice of the firm. They also helped in releasing firm’s payment.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the RSP managers had fixed the deal with the supplying agency. The sleuths, however, refused to divulge details about the amount of misappropriation and the documents seized from the RSP officials. They also didn’t disclose anything about the quantum of the disproportionate assets of the DGMs. PNN
