BARGARH:After the Rural Development (RD) department blacklisted Suraj Enterprises, a firm owned by Rajendra Kumar Agrawal and his son Bunty Agarwal, for allegedly submitting fake Term Deposit Receipt (TDRs) to procure some key tenders in Kalahandi and Nuapada districts, the Executive Engineer of Roads and Buildings (R&B) on Wednesday filed a complaint against Bunty at Bargarh Town police station.
Reports said the firm had bagged the tender for construction of road under Biju Expressway from Nuapada to Sohela at an estimated cost of `43 crore. Accordingly, they had deposited TDR and preliminary inquiry has revealed that out of total amount of TDR worth `2.95 crore, `38.6 lakh has already been withdrawn.
Sources said the term cash in form of Term Deposit, Demand Draft or Bank Guarantee has to be deposited twice by construction firms desirous of taking up any government work. The first deposit, ranging from 1 to 2 per cent, is deposited as Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) along with tender. The second deposit is made when work is awarded to the selected firm. The amount, termed as Initial Security Deposit (ISD), is decided by the department concerned and the contractor has to deposit the required amount of financial instrument. In both the cases, the financial instruments are drawn in the name of the department concerned. After verification by the department with the issuing bank, it is kept in joint custody of the cashier and accountant.
It is believed that the Agrawals could have taken the cashier and accountant into confidence and withdrawn the TDR deposited by them. After getting coloured photocopies of the TDR, they must have returned the TDR to the cashier and accountant and encashed it for use in the work.
The fraud is not possible without the connivance of the cashier and the accountant, sources added.
Bargarh Executive Engineer (R&B) Chakradhar Prasad Gantayat said the matter is now with the police and they have submitted all relevant documents. While other TDR had been returned after completion of the work, the present TDR was with them and after the incident of fake TDR came to light, they were directed to verify the TDR submitted by the contractor. On verification, it was found that out of the total TDR cost, `38.6 lakh has already been withdrawn by the contractor, he added.A case has been registered under Sections 467, 468, 471 and 420 IPC.