Around 19,000 bags of substandard cement passed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation quality control tests and made their way to Metro construction sites, police sources said.
Luckily, the cement in these bags was used not in any of the Metro's bridges or pillars, but to make some of the tiles that pave Metro station platforms.
Police investigations, carried out over months, have discovered that the cement had been certified fit for use by a government-approved laboratory. No action has been taken against the laboratory so far.
Jai Prakash, the spurious cement supplier, and Jaswant Singh, the driver of the truck that ferried many consignments to Metro construction sites have, however, been arrested.
"We tracked down one truck that has been regularly supplying substandard cement, but how do we know there aren't more which have escaped detection so far?" said a senior police officer associated with the case.
The racket was revealed after Pramod Singhal, an official with Mangalam Cement Ltd , informed the police in February this year that bags of cement which bore the label of his company, but which it had not manufactured, were being distributed.
Metro officials confirmed that the laboratory reports had okayed the cement. "We have passed on all the information to the police," said spokesman Anuj Dayal.
{{/usCountry}}Metro officials confirmed that the laboratory reports had okayed the cement. "We have passed on all the information to the police," said spokesman Anuj Dayal.
{{/usCountry}}Poor quality control