Lens on PWD project for Delhi CM kin links

New Delhi: The anti-corruption branch on Thursday said that it has ordered inspection of a public works department (PWD) project as part of its probe into an alleged '10 crore scam involving chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s brother-in-law. The ACB said that the department was conducting site inspections for collecting evidences at different locations.

“We have directed the PWD for site inspection with a team of experts and sought their opinion in connection with a project involving Mr Kejriwal’s deceased brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal in the alleged Rs 10 crore scam,” ACB chief Mukesh Kumar Meena said.

The ACB action follows the filing of three cases on May 9 against Bansal and senior PWD officers in connection with the corruption charge. The investigating agency questioned six engineers of the PWD on May 13.

The three FIRs were registered against Bansal and the PWD officers after it was discovered that the bills were cleared by different companies for different works.

The case involving Bansal, who died on May 7, relates to a drain project and improvement of kerbs from Shani Mandir to Bakoli village up to Drain No. 6 on the National Highway-44.

The FIRs do not mention Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Kejriwal’s name, although complainant Rahul Sharma, convenor of NGO Road Anti-Corruption Organisation, has accused the chief minister of helping Bansal to get fake bills of around '10 crore cleared. The ACB had recorded the statement of Mr Sharma on May 11.

Six PWD engineers had joined the ongoing investigations on Saturday in graft-related irregularities worth Rs 10 crore in the awarding of construction contracts to an agency owned by a relative of Mr Kejriwal.

A senior officer, who is part of ACB investigation, said engineers were questioned and their statements were in the process of being recorded. ACB has recently registered three FIRs in the scam.

Meanwhile, a complaint forwarded by a PWD assistant engineer to the local police has surfaced with the complainant alleging Surender Bansal, CM Kejriwal’s now deceased brother-in-law, in damaging a drain under the jurisdiction of the PWD which he witnessed in April last year.