A BJP Mumbai unit functionary has written to the city Police Commissioner, seeking transfer of the road contracts case lodged with Azad Maidan Police Station to the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB).
Based on the complaint filed by the Road Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Azad Maidan Police had registered an FIR against some civic contractor for allegedly cheating the Municipal body for carrying out sub-standard road reconstruction.
“In the interest of the city of Mumbai and to expose this unholy nexus of contractors, civic officials and other known and unknown accused, it is imperative that the FIR lodged with Azad Maidan police station be transferred to the ACB for investigation,” Vivekanand Gupta, secretary of Mumbai BJP unit, said.
“I am approaching you due to the flawed procedures adopted by the BMC Road Department to the detriment of public interest at large,” he said.
“The filing of the FIR by the Road Department with the Azad Maidan police station is a deliberate attempt to weaken the entire case/scam. This is not a simple case of cheating, but of huge corruption. It starts from the process of drafting the tender conditions till the awarding of tender to the road contractors,” Gupta said.
“In between, the tender conditions are changed and even after the tender passed and is awarded, the conditions are tweaked…All this is with the unholy nexus of the contractors, civic officials and other known and unknown accused,” he said.
This scam in road department is going on for years and is to the tune of over Rs 5,000 crore, he alleged.
“Mumbaikars, for years, have been facing poor roads and the major reason for poor quality of roads is corruption and the lack of quality assurance. It is only after the new Municipal Commissioner took charge that he ordered an inquiry into the road contract scam,” Gupta said.
