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CBI case against ex-CM Ibobi, top retd officials; recovers banned notes, 8 luxury cars
The raids have been conducted in connection with alleged misappropriating state government funds worth Rs 332 crore in the Manipur Development Society (MDS) scam, two officials familiar with the development said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday raided the residence of senior Congress leader and former chief minister of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh after registering a case against him, three former chief secretaries of the state and others. The raids have been conducted in connection with alleged misappropriation of state government funds worth Rs 332 crore in the Manipur Development Society (MDS) scam, two officials familiar with the development said.
The agency teams conducted raids at nine locations in Aizawl, Imphal and Gurugram including residences of Singh and former secretaries.
The FIR filed by CBI, registered on Wednesday, names Ibobi Singh, retired IAS officers - DS Poonia, P C Lawmuknga and O Nabakishore Singh, then project director of MDS – Y Ningthem Singh and society’s administrative officer S Ranjit Singh. The three retired officers previously held the post of Chairman MDS on different occasions.
CBI said in a statement on Friday, “It was alleged that the accused while working as Chairman of Manipur Development Society from June 30, 2009 to July 6, 2017, in conspiracy with others, misappropriated government funds to the tune of Rs 332 crore out of the total amount of Rs 518 crore which was entrusted to them for the purpose of executing development work.”
Ibobi Singh was the chief minister of Manipur from 2002 till 2017.
Reacting to the raids and FIR filed by CBI, Ibobi Singh told HT over phone from Imphal, “I will give full cooperation to any agency. Let them investigate and after that the facts and findings will come out whether I am involved or not”.
From Ibobi Singh’s residence in Imphal, one of the officials cited above said it has recovered demonetised currency notes worth Rs 26.49 lakh, in addition to Rs 11.47 lakh cash in new notes, branded items and eight luxury cars like Audi, Mitsubishi, Toyota Fortuner, Honda, Hyundai and others.
The CBI official cited above added they have also recovered several documents pertaining to several plots, houses, apartments and bank accounts belonging to the then CM, three retired IAS officers and other two named officers.
In summation, the central agency has recovered Rs 15.47 lakh cash from all the locations and demonetised currency worth Rs 36.49 from all the raided premises’. Other than Ibobi Singh, demonetised currency worth Rs 10 lakh was recovered from residence of Ningthem Singh.
The second official said Ningthem Singh also has two sets of palatial houses in approximately 3500 square yards in Imphal.
From Poonia, CBI has found an apartment, a residential plot in Noida, two shops in Dwarka, a flat in Saket and seven bank accounts. From Lawmuknga, the agency sleuths recovered four lakh cash in new currency notes, while from Navakishore, they found four story building spread over 7,000 square feet, two houses, flats in Ghaziabad and Gurugram, a Hyundai car dealership in Imphal in the name of his wife and son.
The case is related to alleged misappropriation of funds allotted to MDS for development of infrastructure in the state.
Chief minister N Biren Singh-led BJP government in Manipur had filed two FIR in the matter in September 1, 2017 alleging large scale irregularities. The CBI took over state police cases and registered its FIR on November 20.
The state government’s vigilance enquiry had revealed that since Ibobi Singh was the Chairman of MDS between July 1, 2013 and August 31, 2014, he is required to be examined and his statement needs to be recorded.
Poonia was chairman of MDS from June 30, 2009 till June 30, 2013 and the state government enquiry had claimed since a lot of transactions had taken place during his tenure, he is required to be examined. Similarly, in the case of Lawmkunga and Nabakishore, the vigilance enquiry had stated they needed to be examined to check if there were any procedural lapses, financial misappropriation among others.
It was further alleged that officials and staff of MDS had not observed prescribed procedures, establishment’s norms and extant rules including measurement books, detailed project reports and utilisation certification.
