5 Palike engineers suspended in fake bill scam

The BBMP has suspended five engineers in connection with the latest fake bill scam in three wards of the Chamarajpet Assembly constituency.

The action came following a Deccan Herald report based on a report by the Technical Vigilance Cell under the Commissioner (TVCC), which showed that these engineers connived with the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) officials and two other contractors, including Aishwarya Infrastructure and Developers (AID), in an attempt to squander Rs 9.5 crore without executing the work.

They were suspended almost 20 days after the report was submitted to the BBMP Commissioner G Kumar Naik.

For their role
A Palike official said executive engineer Tanveer Ahmed, assistant executive engineer Ranganath, assistant engineers Prasanna Kumar, Narayani and Narasimha were suspended for their role in the fake bill scam in KR Market, Chamarajpet and Azad Nagar wards, represented by the JD(S) MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan.

The irony in the episode is that the pathetic roads in and around KR Market, Avenue Road and other areas of Chikpet did not move these engineers who gave completion certificates, commenting on the good quality of these roads to the contractors and helped them submit fake bills to the Palike’s accounts department. Commissioner Naik ordered a probe following a complaint by the Chamarajpet corporator Kokila Chandrashekhar and former leader of the BBMP Council B T Srinivas Murthy. Naik had even visited the spot and found that their complaints true.

Probe stonewalled
When the inquiry started, the accused engineers stonewalled the probe by not sharing their registers and other documents with the TVCC officials. It is also learnt that the officials along with a some others even attempted to transfer the TVCC officials, in a bid to sabotage the probe.