ROURKELA:THE CBI sleuths raided the Reliable Hi-Tech Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (RHIPL) office here on Tuesday in connection with irregularities in project execution and goods supply to the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) of SAIL. The irregularities took place during the tenure of RSP’s suspended Executive Director (Works) Prasad Verma, who was arrested on January 9.
Three teams of CBI officials raided the RHIPL office, Hero Motor two-wheeler showroom and Maruti car showroom along Panposh road here. The teams also raided the Civil Township residence of the head of Reliable Group Surendra Dua and seized several incriminating documents. Sources said several RSP officers are also under the scanner for dubious deals with the tainted Executive Director. Recently, proprietors of two Rourkela-based supplier firms - World Link Corporation and Rajesh & Co - were summoned at the CBI office, Bhubaneswar, for investigation.
The RHIPL is a civil, electrical and mechanical contractor firm and supplier of engineering items and consumables under the Reliable Group valued at above `1,000 crore. The RHIPL has been associated with major civil, electrical and engineering jobs in the modernisation projects of the RSP and is also a supplier to the steel plant. The company has also done electrical, automation, instrumentation and other jobs at Jagdishpur unit of SAIL in Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, on January 8, the CBI team had raided the official residence of Verma at Rourkela while he was receiving `1 lakh bribe from an official of a Kolkata-based supplier firm. Search of his residence further led to seizures of `20 lakh new currency notes during the demonetisation period.
An official statement of the CBI had stated that abusing his office, Verma had allegedly entered into criminal conspiracy with two accused officials of the Kolkata-based supplier firm to award supply orders of electrical, electronics, electro-mechanical machineries and parts to RSP. It said the two accused were bribing Verma and while briefly acting as in-charge CEO of RSP, Verma had illegally sanctioned work order in the AMR (Addition, Modification & Rectification) Cell to these accused.
Verma is now ED (Works) in Durgapur Steel Plant, but under suspension.