ED questions IAS officer in connection with PMAY-U tender irregularities

The Enforcement Directorate has questioned Astik Kumar Pandey, who served as Aurangabad municipal commissioner, in connection with an alleged scam worth ?1,000 crore involving the tender process of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban scheme. Pandey, who now works as Aurangabad district collector, was asked to provide information on details related to the project and the alleged irregularities involved in its implementation. The probe was initiated following a complaint by the deputy municipal commissioner against firms including Samarath Construction and JV, Indo Global Infrastructure Services and Jaguar Global Services, and their respective partners.

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday questioned Astik Kumar Pandey, who has served as Aurangabad municipal commissioner, in connection with a money-laundering probe into an alleged fraud in the tender process of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) scheme.

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As per the ED, subsidy to the tune of around ₹1,000 crore was involved in the scam.

According to the ED sources, three eligible bidders had filed their e-tenders from a single computer in violation of the terms of the civic body for construction of 40,000 houses.

The ED had called Pandey, who is currently serving as Aurangabad district Collector, to seek information on details related to the project and the alleged irregularities involved in its implementation.

The agency had initiated the probe based on a case registered by the Aurangabad police on February 23 on a complaint from deputy municipal commissioner, Aparna Thete, against firms, including Samarath Construction and JV, Indo Global Infrastructure Services, Jaguar Global Services and their respective partners, for alleged forgery and formation of a cartel to illegally win the tender. The FIR mentioned 19 people associated with the three accused firms.

“The tender was allotted to M/s Samarath Construction and JV, but of the performance bank guarantee of ₹46.24 crore, they had deposited only ₹88.60 lakh. Also, the firm had subverted the due procedure by getting an extension of the initial tender for 19.22 hectares to 120 hectares without a fresh tender process,” an ED official claimed. The agency in March conducted searches at nine locations in Aurangabad, Pune and Akola linked to the accused firms and individuals.

“It was revealed that in the case of the losing e-tender applicants, the major JV partners completely denied their involvement in the tender process and claimed forgery of their credentials by the L1 applicant,” ED had said.

The agency had seized various incriminating documents, including the note-sheet of the tender file of the civic body from an applicant. The ED had also sought related documents from the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation.

Recording of Pandey’s statement continued till going to the press.