Power projects scam fake, accusers will be beaten up with shoes: Rijiju
New Delhi: Under attack over the alleged power projects scam in Arunachal Pradesh, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday rejected allegations of wrongdoing and said those who have "planted" the story against him "will be beaten up with shoes".
"Jo news plant kar rahe hain wo hamare yehan ayyenge to joota khayenge (Those who planted the story will be beaten up with shoes when they will come to our area)," the Tawang MP told reporters here reacting to media reports that he had written a letter to Power Minister Piyush Goyal seeking early clearance of bills related to a hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh.
Rijiju, who is the Minister of State for Home, said he had written the letter to Goyal as it was his duty as an MP to take action on representations given by his constituents.
"I have written the letter to the Power Minister after I received presentations from some people in my constituency in Arunachal West regarding pending bills. I have done no wrong and there is no corruption," Rijiju said.
The reports claimed that Rijiju, his cousin, a contractor in Arunachal Pradesh, Goboi Rijiju, and several top officials of the state-run NEEPCO, including its Chairman and Managing Director, have been named in a 129-page report by the PSU's Chief Vigilance Officer Satish Verma that alleges corruption in construction of two dams for 600 MW Kameng Hydro Electric Project, one of the biggest hydro-electric projects in Arunachal Pradesh.
NEEPC comes under the Union Power Ministry.
Verma's report was sent to the CBI, CVC and the Ministry of Power in July this year. It alleges an "elaborate conspiracy" involving contractors, NEEPCO officials and the West Kameng district administration to defraud NEEPCO and the government of funds that "may extend up to Rs 450 crore".
West Kameng, the site of the project, falls in Arunachal West which is the parliamentary constituency of Rijiju.
The CBI has made two "surprise checks" but no FIR has been registered yet, reports said.
Chief Vigilance Officer Satish Verma, a Gujarat IPS officer, was pulled up by NEEPCO for "unauthorised absence," and transferred to the CRPF in Tripura soon after his report.
Verma was also part of the three-member SIT set up to probe the alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan in Gujarat in 2004 when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister.
Verma had said Ishrat's killing was a "premeditated murder".
