Pune: The Shivajinagar police have lodged a first information report (FIR) against a contractor on charges of allegedly forging bills estimated to be worth Rs1 crore related to wiring work at Vaikunth and Amardham crematoriums. According to the police, the accused has been identified as Yogesh Chandrashekhar More of Ganesh Park on Sinhgad road. He has been charged for producing fraudulent bills and got them stamped and signed in the names of the supervisory officials through cheating and forgery. The complaint was lodged by PMC electrical department engineer Prahlad Pawar.
A few days ago, PMC on instructions from municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar decided to file a police case stating that civic work valued at Rs1 crore was carried out without any legal tender issued by the civic body.
Kumar termed the incident as an economic offence and said that he had directed the department to lodged an FIR. Kumar also spoke to Pune police commissioner Amitabh Gupta seeking an FIR against the contractor.
The matter came to light after the PMC’s audit department found that during the Covid pandemic, the electrical department carried out wiring-related work at the Vaikunth and Amardham crematoriums, without tenders being issued for the same. Following the audit, the civic chief ordered a probe and asked the municipal administrator to file an FIR. Earlier, the electrical department had also issued notices to all parties involved with the work.
PMC has maintained that the signatures on tenders will be examined forensically.
{{/usCountry}}PMC has maintained that the signatures on tenders will be examined forensically.
{{/usCountry}}PSI Bhairav Nath said, “Investigation is on and we have booked him under relevant sections of cheating of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).”
It was found that the Sinhgad ward office also carried out work without issuing a tender. There is also allegations that in some instances, while a tender was issued for work at one site, the actual work was carried out elsewhere. The NIBM annexe forum had also demanded a probe into the tree contractor’s alleged act of supplying private men in uprooting 52 trees from Gemini Avenue Housing Society’s amenity plot in Mohammadwadi, a month ago. A complaint has been lodged against the accused with the Kondhwa police.
A few years ago, in the Bhavani Peth area, a contractor had dug holes with no pipelines laid. Despite this, the PMC at the time, paid the contractor for work. Two tenders were issued for the same road work in Katraj area, and bills were issued twice for the same job. Civic activists have appealed for a probe into the nexus involving officials, contractors and corporators in the civic works where forgery, fraud and cheating has been carried out using taxpayer money.