PARADIP: A CBI team carried out searches across multiple locations in Hyderabad and Paradip to investigate alleged cheating and forgery by a Hyderabad-based firm which was assigned a Rs 65 crore housing project by the Paradip Port Authority (PPA).
The central agency also conducted searches in the office of the Road and Buildings division of PPA and the residence of the Gangadhar Sethy, executive engineer (civil) of the division as part of its investigation. The contract firm, Hyderabad-based DNC Infrastructure Pvt Ltd as well as Sethy have been named in the FIR by the central probe agency.
The project, estimated at Rs 65.76 crore, entailed construction of 350 residential quarters for port employees and facilitation and reservation of land for future expansion of the port in Nuabazar area in Paradip.
Sources said a letter of intent was issued by the executive engineer of the R&B division of PPA on February 26, 2024, in favour of DNC Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, to deposit the initial security deposit (ISD) and performance security deposit (PSD) amounting to Rs 65,76,092 and Rs 1,97,28,277, respectively, in the form of demand draft, banker’s cheque, or bank guarantee, along with other requisite documents for release of work order.
Documents in possession of this paper said, on March 18, 2024, the firm submitted ISD and PSD in the form of a bank guarantee issued by Indian Bank, Shyam Bazar, Kolkata. Subsequently, work order was issued in favour of the firm on June 7, 2024, at a contract value of Rs 65,76,09,238.47. As per the contract, commencement date of the project was June 21, 2024, and completion was supposed to be December 20, 2025.
After execution of the agreement and as per the contract clause, the Hyderabad-based firm applied for mobilisation advance, which amounts to 10 per cent of the contract value, by submitting a bank guarantee amounting to Rs 7,23,38,000 issued by the same bank. In both instances, confirmation from emails mention in the bank guarantee papers was received. Subsequently, 50 pc of the mobilisation advance, amounting to Rs 3,28,89,462, was released.
However, during verification, it was discovered that all three bank guarantees for ISD, PSD, and mobilisation advance were not issued by the Kolkata branch of Indian Bank. Subsequently, it was found out that fake bank guarantees were submitted to the PPA and misleading and identical email IDs were provided to obtain false confirmations. Sethy who was supposed to verify the bank guarantees is charged with complicity for ignoring the set procedures.
Later, two sub-contractors Satyajit Pradhan and Suesna Mandal, who had not got their dues from the agency sought the intervention of PPA authorities and also lodged an FIR with the CBI.
Sethy had also lodged an FIR with Paradip Model Police Station in January but the local police apparently did not accept the case as it was considered a national issue.
Important documents and hard disks were seized during the searches. A case has been registered and the investigation is underway.