Substandard bomb kits procured, says Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, in a written reply in the Assembly, admitted that Technotrade Impex Pvt Ltd had cheated the Maharashtra government by procuring substandard bomb detection and disposal kits.

He was responding to a question raised by BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar. The legislator also asked about the action initiated against the company.

Mr Fadnavis said, “It is true that the bomb detection and disposal kits of high quality were supposed to be purchased from the US. It was mentioned in the contract as well; however Technotrade Impex supplied the kits purchased from South Africa and China and they were of substandard quality.”

The state government filed an FIR against the company in the Colaba police station on March 13, 2012 and the Economic Offence Wing is investigating the case, Mr Fadnavis said.

“The procedure for Letters Rogatory (LR) is on, though it is a complicated exercise. The government also filed a civil suit on February 13, 2016 before the Bombay high court to recover `6,21,69,120 with an interest rate of 18 per cent, which was paid to the company,” the chief minister said.

The ACB had carried out an investigation into the home department and three officers and employees were probed in this matter. One employee has been punished while legal action against the officers is in final stage. The three officers and employees from the director general of police’s office have also faced action while charges against four have been dropped. The probe against two officers is still on, Mr Fadnavis said.