Hyderabad: The silt scam, worth Rs 1.8 crore in GHMC central zone just got bigger. The central crime station arrested 12 GHMC assistant engineers, who were accused in the scam, the contractors alleged. They were, however released on bail on the same day.
In April, the GHMC central zone officials caught 27 contractors who attempted to cheat the civic body of Rs 1.8 crore and booked them on criminal charges. The contractors were given the job of desilting nalas as part of the pre-monsoon work.
They presented bills to show that several trips were made to dispose of the silt. It was, however, discovered that the registration numbers of the vehicles they claimed to have been used were those of two-wheelers. Cases have been booked against the contractors under provisions of the lndian Contract Act 1872.
A senior officer from the GHMC central zone said, “The job of an assistant engineer is to check the quality of work done by the contractors. They ne-ed to measure the extent of work accomplished and assign funds accordingly.”
The contractors, in their statement to police, mentioned that the 12 assistant engineers were part of the scam. “The arrested officials were questioned on why they failed to check the illegalities in the bills submitted by the contractors but no suspension order has been issued so far against the officials,” he added.
While the audit, it was found that the contractors mentioned several vehicle numbers that included those of two-wheelers and autorickshaws. It is evident that such vehicles cannot transport silt. On investigation, it was found that bills amounting to Rs 1.8 crore were false.
