ROURKELA: The CBI sleuths today raided the premises of Reliable Hi-Tech Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (RHIPL) in connection with irregularities in project execution and goods supply to Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) during the tenure of the suspended Executive Director (Works) Prasad Verma.
Verma was arrested by the CBI in January and the raids on the premises of the RHIPL came following an investigation into the irregularities, sources in the probe agency said.
Three teams of the premier investigation agency raided the RHIPL office, Hero Motor two-wheeler showroom and a Maruti car showroom here along with the Civil Township residence of the head of Reliable Group, Surendra Dua. Several incriminating documents were seized during the operation.
Sources said several of the RSP officers are also under the scanner for dubious deals with the tainted Enforcement Directorate (ED) while proprietors of the two Rourkela-based supplier firms, World Link Corporation and Rajesh & Co were also summoned to the CBI office at Bhubaneswar for investigation recently.
The RHIPL is a civil, electrical and mechanical contracting firm and a supplier of engineering items and consumables under the Reliable Group valued at above Rs 1,000 crore. The RHIPL has been associated with major civil, electrical and engineering jobs in the modernization projects of the RSP and is also a supplier to the plant.
The firm has also carried out electrical, automation, instrumentation and other jobs at the Jagdishpur unit of SAIL in Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, on January 8, the CBI had raided the official residence of Verma at Rourkela and caught him accepting Rs 1 lakh as bribe from an official of a Kolkata-based supplier firm. A search of his residence led to seizures of Rs 20 lakh worth new currency notes during the demonetisation period.
Verma is accused of entering into a criminal conspiracy with two officials of a Kolkata-based supplier firm to award supply orders of electrical, electronics, electro-mechanical machinery and parts to RSP and ensure a smooth execution of the supply contracts for the Kolkata firm.
During his brief stint as the CEO of RSP, Verma had illegally sanctioned work order in the Addition, Modification & Rectification Cell to the two officials. Currently, Verma is ED (Works) in Durgapur Steel Plant but is under suspension.