BHUBANESWAR: A clerk of Directorate of Technical Education Training (DTET) impersonated as an IAS officer and defrauded a New Delhi-based steel company to the tune of Rs 1.17 crore on the pretext of issuing work orders of Works department in favour of the company.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch arrested the accused Suryamani Tripathy from Cuttack on Friday. His accomplice Amit Kumar has also been arrested for impersonating as an engineer of the Works department and playing a big role in the con-act. Two more accused including one Rajesh Gahlot and a woman are still at large.
Rikab Chand Munot, proprietor of the company Rashtriya Stainless Steel, had met Rajesh through a friend in 2017. Rajesh impersonated as a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer and claimed that he knew many IAS officers in Odisha. Rashtriya Stainless has its branch office at Kalinga Nagar in Bhubaneswar and its proprietor is Rikab’s son Akshay Munot.
Rajesh introduced Rikab and Akshay with Suryamani at Odisha Niwas in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. While Suryamani claimed that he was posted as an Additional Secretary in the Works department, both the accused assured Rikab of providing high-value work orders in Odisha in favour of Rashtriya Stainless. A year later, Suryamani called Rikab and Akshay to Bhubaneswar to execute an agreement with the Works department.
Suryamani introduced Amit, an unemployed youth, to them as an engineer of the department when the duo went to meet the accused at the office of the engineer-in-chief (civil), Nirman Soudha. The accused took Rikab and Akshay to a court in the Capital City and produced fake agreement letters signed by the assistant engineer in the office of EIC (civil). Akshay signed on the forged papers on behalf of Rashtriya Stainless and the documents were notarised.
In March, 2018, Suryamani and Amit asked the father-son duo to deposit `25 lakh in the State government’s Directorate of Treasuries to get Rashtriya Stainless registered in the Works Department for issuance of work orders. They were asked to pay the amount to a woman who impersonated an official of the Directorate of Treasuries and the accused duo provided them a fake receipt near the Directorate of Treasuries office. Subsequently, Suryamani provided fake work orders to Rashtriya Stainless. The accused persons continued to collect money from Rikab and Akshay on the pretext of expediting the work orders in favour of Rashtriya Stainless and had taken over Rs 1.7 crore from the duo.
However, when the company did not get any official go-ahead for implementation of the work orders and advance, Rikab filed an RTI application in 2019 to know the status of the orders. He then came to know that all the documents provided by Suryamani and Amit were fake.
After receiving the RTI reply recently, he lodged a complaint in the EOW and a case was registered on Thursday. Suryamani was nabbed from Cuttack and Amit from Bhubaneswar on Friday. Fake work orders, agreements, treasury receipts have been seized from them . Suryamani used to meet the victims at Odisha Niwas in New Delhi to gain their confidence. He had mobile numbers of senior IAS, IPS, OAS officers and judges to create a good impression before the complainant, EOW DIG Jai Narayan Pankaj said.
WORK ORDER SCAM
March 15, 2018 Suryamani gave 2 fake work orders to the firm worth Rs 3 cr and Rs 4 cr
August 21, 2018 2 more fake work orders having contract value of Rs 32.52 cr and Rs 47.52 cr issued to the firm
Fake work orders issued in the name of assistant engineer of EIC, civil office
Suryamani also handed over a fake letter signed by the accounts officer in the office of EIC (civil) to transfer Rs 1.52 crore and Rs 3.16 crore to the account of Rashtriya Stainless