SHILLONG, Oct 19: Less than two months after an inquiry team exposed a “vehicle scam” and blatant overstepping of jurisdiction and authority by the then Assistant Inspector-General of Police (Administration), Gabriel K Iangrai, in the procurement of vehicles and use of fuel by the Meghalaya Police Headquarters (PHQ), a fresh exposé on subversion of the system, misappropriation and submission of “false certificates” by the same police official has come to light.
The latest exposé, courtesy an inquiry report into the construction of the National Emergency Response System (NERS) building at Sadar police station in the city, provides yet another damning evidence of the muck and corruption in the police hierarchy in the state.
A copy of the inquiry report is available with The Shillong Times.
The report states that an inquiry into the construction of the NERS Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP building on the premises of Sadar police station was carried out and a physical verification of the building too happened on September 19, 2022, by a four-member team led by Deputy Inspector-General (Eastern Range) Davis Nestell R Marak, and consisting of Assistant Inspector-General Darwin M Sangma, FAO SML Tron, and Assistant Executive Engineer L Bareh.
The genesis of the case is that the Ministry of Home Affairs had sanctioned and released Rs 95.78 lakh for the NERS PSAP project to be taken up departmentally, i.e., by the Police department as per provision of Appendix 9 of the Meghalaya Financial Rules, 1981.
Appendix 9 relates to those departments other than PWD and Forest which can execute the work departmentally under the supervision of the departmental engineer.
As per clause 2 of the said appendix, no work shall be commenced without a detailed plan and estimate. Estimates should therefore, be framed in all cases by the departmental officers. The work may either be taken up by the department through the process of tender or may be allotted to Meghalaya Government Construction Corporation Ltd (MGCC).
The work was executed by Iangrai, who submitted utilisation certificates of Rs 95.78 lakh in addition to a completion certificate.
The inquiry team found that the government had sanctioned the entire amount of Rs 95.78 lakh which was withdrawn by Iangrai.
Neither the DPR was prepared nor any records maintained with regards to the expenditures.
In his report, the FAO says: “On verification of the records available it appears that none of the provisions as laid down was complied with. How the work was executed in the absence of the plan and estimate is in contravention of the laid down rules. Which Schedule of Rates was used is also not clear. If the work is done on a self-help basis, whether the contractor’s profit and labour cost was scaled down is to be ascertained. In the absence of records for the above completed work, nothing could be determined.”
The FAO further states: “With regards to expenditure on furniture and other items, bills have to be verified to ascertain the exact cost involved and whether the items as quoted in the bill were really received or not.”
The engineer in his report says: “There is no estimate or DPR and only an estimate for the renovation of Sadar Traffic Branch for Rs 3 lakh is found in the file. There is an estimate for the electrification for Rs 3,37,470 and since the work was done on a self-help basis, the approximate cost of materials is only Rs 1,85,608.
The approximate cost of construction materials is Rs 28,16,066, which brings the total cost of the NERS building and renovation of Sadar Traffic Branch to Rs 33,01,674. However, only unverified cash memos are attached with the bills.
“After the officials of NERS occupied the building, some cracks appeared on the walls and windows and during one of the earthquakes, the officials complained that the walls were shaking very violently and the steel and aluminium windows also got damaged. On inspection, it was found that there was no tie beam at the windows and wall-level and seepage in the office area, computers room and the verandah was also reported,” the engineer’s report adds.
Incidentally, Iangrai submitted utilisation certificates amounting to Rs 95.78 lakh, which was the total amount sanctioned by the government for the NERS project.
langrai also certified that checks like NIT, tender opening committees/line committees have been set up. However, the inquiry found that no tender for construction of the NERS PSAP building was called and neither tender opening committees nor line committees were set up for the project.
“This establishes that he has given false certificates to the government. It is pertinent to mention here that GK Iangrai not only issued false UC but also provided a completion report without clearance from either an engineer or any inspection committee,” the reports says.
The inquiry found that langrai not only gave a falsified utilisation certificate (UC) to the government but after audit objections to the utilisation of Rs 95.78 lakh, he refunded Rs 26,85,389 back to the Official AIG (A) account on September 19, 2022.
The fact that a false UC was submitted to the government and after audit objections, the money which was already drawn by langrai and was in his personal custody was returned, amounts to misappropriation of funds.
The report continues: “As calculated by the AEE, DGP Office the total expenditure for the construction of NERS PSAP building is estimated at Rs 33,01,674 when done on a self-help basis. Since the total sanction for NERS PSAP was Rs 68,37,440 (Rs 3 lakh for civil work, Rs 62 lakh for tubular structure and Rs 3,37,440 for electrification) the balance amount left should be Rs 35,35,793. Even after returning Rs 26,85,389, there is a balance amount of Rs 8,50,404 which is still in the personal custody of langrai and which again amounts to gross misappropriation of government funds.”
