After the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, when Jammu and Kashmir has been under the direct rule of the BJP-led Centre, a Lucknow-based infrastructure firm Apco Infratech Private Limited secured a contract in the Kashmir Valley to build a tunnel. The company subsequently donated 10 crores to the BJP through electoral bonds, the Scroll has reported.
On December 19, 2019, Apco Infratech was issued a “letter of award” by the Union territory administration to execute the construction of the 6.4 km-long Z-Morh tunnel in Ganderbal district, the report, which is part of a collaboration between Newslaundry, Scroll, The News Minute – and independent journalists, said.
Less than four weeks after receiving the go-ahead for the project, the firm on 15 January, 2020, purchased 10 electoral bonds worth Rs 1 crore each. The Bharatiya Janata Party encashed the bonds six days later.
Apco Infratech did not purchase bonds only in 2020. It also bought Rs 10 crore worth of bonds in 2022, followed by the same amount in 2023 – a total of Rs 30 crore.
All of these bonds have gone into the kitty of BJP, the data revealed by the Election Commission of India on Thursday shows.