Five, including two officials, booked for pocketing road repair money

Five persons, including a block development, panchayat officer (BDPO) and chairman of block committee of Pataudi, were booked on Monday for allegedly fudging bills amounting to ₹18,000, by forging documents to make illegal payments for repair works, said police

Five persons, including a block development, panchayat officer (BDPO) and chairman of block committee of Pataudi, were booked on Monday for allegedly fudging bills amounting to ₹18,000, by forging documents to make illegal payments for repair works, said police.

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The police said that the case came to light when a roadroller, mentioned in the documents for road repairs, turned out to be a two-wheeler.

As per the norms, to sanction money, the bill needs to have registration number of roadroller used for the repair or road construction. However, a right to information (RTI) petition filed by an activist revealed that the registration number in the documents was that of a two-wheeler. Following this, the activist, last November, filed a complaint with the police for registration of an FIR against the officials involved.

An inquiry was conducted by the deputy commissioner of police, Manesar, following which a case under sections 420 (cheating), 409 (breach of trust) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Patuadi police station on Monday.

A case was registered against the BDPO of Pataudi, the chairman of the block committee and the contractors concerned. Despite repeated attempts, the BDPO and the chairman did not respond to calls for comment.

Ramesh Kumar, the activist, said that he had also filed a complaint with the CM Window. “Accidents are reported every day due to the poor condition of roads and officials take money without carrying out repairs and construction of the road. They show repair work only in documents, but never carry them out,” he said.

KK Rao, the commissioner of police said that they are conducting an investigation and no arrest has been made so far. “We are also discussing the case with other stakeholders and based on the outcome, the suspects will be arrested and strict action will be taken against them,” he said.