JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Police has cracked the murder mystery of NHAI consultant Rajendra Chawla alias RK Chawla, who was shot dead in Jaipur last week. According to the police, the Gurugram-based consultant was resisting some corrupt deals in the construction of foot-overbridges (FOBs) on the Jaipur-Delhi highway and had imposed a penalty of Rs 3.5 crore on a leading contract company.
The police claimed that the MD of the company got the consultant eliminated by hiring two sharp shooters for Rs 15 lakh and had already paid them Rs 3 lakh in advance. The MD of E5 Infrastructure Private Limited and three other staff members of the company have been arrested, said the police. Jaipur Police Commissioner Anand Shrivastav confirmed that they have arrested the 4 accused, including Karandeep Sheoran (29), MD and owner of E5 Infrastructure and a resident of Gurugram, Naveen Bisla (31), a resident of Panchkula, Vikas Singh and Amit Nehra, both residents of Gurugram.
Police said the prime accused Karandeep Sheoran’s firm was shortlisted for the construction of 14 FoBs on the Gurugram-Kotputli-Jaipur stretch of NH-8 for Rs 35 crore. To monitor the project, the NHAI had roped in a private firm and Chawla was recruited by that firm as its consultant. The FoB project soon ran into trouble due to continuous delays in construction and its design.
Police said that Sheoran wanted modification in tender conditions including changing its design from single-span to double-span along with an extension of time (EOT) – but Chawla was opposing those.
Police claimed the murder was the result of disagreements between the two sides over changes in design and extension of time in the construction of the FoBs.