Ex-Tripura Chief Secy sent to police custody in PWD scam

Former Chief Secretary of Tripura, who was arrested in connection with a multi-crore PWD scam from Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, was sent to four-day police custody by a local court. Police, during the four-day custody, would interrogate Singh to know more details about the financial misdeeds done during the scam.

Agartala (Tripura):A local court on Wednesday sent former Tripura Chief Secretary Yash Pal Singh, who was arrested on Monday in connection with a multi-crore PWD scam from Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, to four-day police custody.

Special Public Prosecutor Ratan Datta said that the police sought 10-day police custody, but Special District and Session Judge Sabyasachi Datta Purkayastha ordered a four-day police custody to the former Tripura Chief Secretary, who was brought here by a Tripura police team after the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Ghaziabad granted transit remand on Tuesday.

"Ex-Chief Secretary would be presented before the Special District and Session Judge once again on Saturday. Some important files of the multi-crore PWD scam are missing. Police during the four-day custody would interrogate Singh to know more details about the financial misdeeds," Datta said.

Singh was the state Principal Secretary (PWD) during 2008-09. The Tripura Police Crime Branch has been looking for him in connection with a corruption case regarding the implementation of various projects worth Rs 638 crore.

A police team led by investigating officer Ajay Das went to Delhi and several other places in northern Tripura before Singh was finally arrested from Ghaziabad. The Vigilance Wing of Tripura government had on October 13 last year, filed an FIR against veteran CPI-M leader and former state PWD and Finance Minister Badal Choudhury, former Chief Secretary Yash Pal Singh and former PWD Chief Engineer Sunil Bhowmik.

Both Choudhury and Bhowmik were granted bail by the Tripura High Court a few weeks ago after their arrest on October 14 and October 21, respectively last year. The case has rocked Tripura politics in the past six months.

According to Law and Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath, the Public Works Department (PWD) under the previous Left Front government in 2008-09 had clubbed together 13 projects -- five bridges, five buildings and three road projects -- being implemented at a cost of Rs 638 crore on cost-plus norms.

Terming it as the "biggest scam in the history of Tripura", Nath said Rs 164 crore had been siphoned off.

Opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist and Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government had hatched a conspiracy against CPI-M central committee member Choudhury to malign the previous Left government.

"No corruption had taken place during the 35-year rule (1978-1988 and 1993-2018) of the Left parties in Tripura. Instead, state infrastructure and all other sectors improved in the state," Sarkar said.

IANS report