Chhattisgarh: SIT formed to probe civil supplies scam

The Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe alleged financial irregularities in the state's Civil Supplies Corporation Limited.

A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel constituted the team which will be headed by S R P Kalluri, Inspector General of Police, Anti-Corruption Bureau and Economic Offence Wing (EOW).

The team has to complete its investigation within three months.

The alleged civil supplies scam was exposed in February 2015 when ACB and EOW conducted simultaneous raids at 25 premises of Chhattisgarh State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited and its officials. Later, the ACB made 18 people, including two IAS officers, Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla, accused in the case.

During the raid, a 113-page diary (in which names of beneficiaries of the scam were mentioned) was recovered. The Congress had alleged that the content of only six pages of the diary was covered in the probe while remaining 107 pages were skipped.

The scam is claimed to be of about Rs 36,000 crore. The Congress had earlier alleged that the then Chief Minister Raman Singh, his wife and other high-profile people were named as beneficiaries in the diary which was recovered during the raid, a charge being refuted continually by the BJP leadership.

As per reports, in an application to the state government recently, Tuteja, who is an accused in the case, has demanded a probe into the matter.

Raman has termed it as ‘Badlapur Government’ (Government of revenge). “This might be the first case in the history of Indian democracy where based on the application of the main accused the state cabinet has ordered a fresh probe."