Probe still in initial stage owing to technical nature of case
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 29: The Shillong Police seem to be taking their own time in investigating the Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura Road project scam, allegedly involving contractors and engineers.
Sources in the Police department said there is no further update and the police are still is conducting a preliminary inquiry based on an FIR.
The sources said none of those named in the FIR was summoned or arrested. Earlier, insiders in the Police department had stated the ongoing probe into the case was too technical.
Last week, the state government had asked the police to probe the multi-crore rupees scam. Nine people, including senior engineers of the state government and officials of two private companies based in Telangana and Haryana, were named in the FIR.
The road project, connecting Shillong with Tura via Nongstoin and Rongjeng was approved in 2010 as part of the Special Road Development Programme-North East of the central government.
The project cost of Rs 1,303.83 crore was revised several times and eventually, enhanced to Rs 2,366.77 crore. The original scheduled date of completion was 2014.
The FIR was filed by PWD (NH) Chief Engineer AM Kharmawphlang, who relied on information provided to him during arbitration proceedings conducted by the Arbitral Tribunal.
The arbitration proceedings were initiated by the private companies after the department did not comply with their demands for a revised contract.
“Officials/engineers in collusion with the contractors have cheated, defrauded, indulged in fabrication of record and adopted corrupt means to cause huge loss to the public exchequer,” the FIR said, adding the conspiracy is required to be unearthed by a systemic, detailed and thorough police investigation.
The implementing agency threatened to file a defamation suit against the state government for spreading “false and misleading information” about the commercial disputes related to the project.
Sources in BSC C&C and BSCPL (joint venture), which implemented the project, said the project contract was awarded by the state in February 2011 through a legitimate competitive bidding process.
Stating that the project’s scheduled completion date was March 6, 2014, they said the government had ‘manufactured’ the case and the purported scam as a “cover-up” due to its humongous delay in the project.
They said the 265-km long project on a difficult terrain was fraught with challenges. The delay was largely due to the state PWD’s inability to provide land conveniently, and its failure to release the IPC-certified payments and provide security to the project personnel, they alleged.
The sources claimed that the initial delay led to a large-scale escalation of the project cost but the contractors managed to complete it in 2017. They said the highway has since been in a good condition, facilitating smooth traffic movement.
The contractors attributed the project cost escalation to the state’s “colossal delay” in completing the formalities and additional work as the construction progressed. The contract price was thus revised from Rs 1,303 crore to Rs 2,406 crore when the project was completed through an approval process involving scrutiny at several layers of the state and central governments.