Lucknow: A new and sensational revelation has come to light in the Vigilance investigation into the Rs 1,400-crore memorials scam during the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) regime in Uttar Pradesh. Bimal Kumar Mudgal, who was posted as a financial consultant in the UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (UPRNN), spent four times his earnings on the acquisition and maintenance of assets while doing a government job till his retirement. A case in this connection was registered in the month of August after investigation by the Vigilance Establishment. If sources are to be believed, Mudgal, who used to come by bicycle to office, became richer by crores of rupees in five years.
According to a Vigilance officer, on May 31, 2019, the Vigilance Department was ordered to carry out an investigate Mudgal's involvement in the memorial scam. During the investigation, it was found that Mudgal, a resident of C-3 Niralanagar, Lucknow, had earned an income of Rs 17,89,891 at the time of his retirement. It was found that Mudgal has spent a total of Rs 64,51,360 on acquisition and maintenance of assets. The investigating team also found that Mudgal spent Rs 45,61,469 more than his income earned from known and legitimate sources. According to officials, Mudgal spent four times more than his income. In this connection, Inspector Ram Vilas Yadav filed a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1998 13 (1) (b), Prevention of Corruption Act, 1998, 13 (2) in the Vigilance Establishment police station.
Ashutosh Pandey, the then SSP / DIG of Lucknow, had filed dozens of cases in Lucknow by exposing the memorial scam. It started with Pandey tightening the noose on the owners of Lucknow Marbles involved in the scam and arresting them. But later, the matter was shoved under the carpet due to pressure from higher authorities. Contracts worth crores of rupees were also given to the firms involved in the memorial scam for the construction of Lok Bhavan.
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So far, charge sheets have been filed against 72 accused in this case. Of these, cognizance have been taken of 15 charge sheets, including against Dr Suhail Ahmed Farooqui, who was joint director and advisor in the Directorate of Mining, while investigation is still going on against former ministers Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Babu Singh Kushwaha and others. Among public servants, apart from retired IAS officer Rambodh Maurya, charge sheets have been filed against then project manager of UPRNN PK Jain, Syed Shamim Ahmed, Sunil Kumar Gautam, Sudhir Kumar Agrawal, Surendra Kumar Choubey, Rajiv Sharma, Satya Prakash Gupta, Bhupendra Dutt Tripathi, Arun Kumar Gautam, Sudhir Kumar Shukla, Rajiv Kumar Singh, Rajesh Chaudhary, Hiralal and Mukesh Kumar. Along with this, the then additional project manager of UPRNN Ahmed Abbas Rizvi, Sunil Kumar Gautam, Rakesh Chandra, Akhilesh Kumar Saxena, the then unit in-charge Shivpal Singh, Purushottam Kumar Sharma, Kashiram Singh, Murli Manohar Saxena, Vinod Kumar Singh and Shiv Kumar Verma have also been named as accused. Sukhlal Yadav, the then accountant of UPRNN, is also accused in this.
Among consortium chiefs, charge sheets under sections of corruption and conspiracy have been filed against Rajendra Prasad Agarwal, Jitendra Mishra, Gyanendra Kumar Agrahari, Ashok Kumar Singh II, Santosh Kumar Pandey, Munni Devi, Ram Asare, Mangala Prasad Dwivedi, Hameed, Ram Lakhan Singh, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Ram Paresh, Vinod Kumar Srivastava, Bacchu Lal, Nisha Devi, Bachau Singh, Ashok Kumar Srivastava, Akhilesh Kumar Singh, Shyam Narayan, Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal, Abdul Farah Chaudhary, Rajkumar Singh, Satyaveer Chikara, Ankur Aggarwal, Dilip Kumar Maurya and Anjana. Special Judge Pawan Kumar Rai has fixed September 15 for hearing of the case.
The scam, which took place between 2007 and 2011, involved billions of rupees spent in the purchase and sale of sandstones used in the construction of monuments and gardens in Lucknow and Noida and other related work. Among these monuments were Ambedkar Memorial Park, Manyavar Kanshi Ram Memorial Park, Gautam Buddha Park, Eco Garden and Ambedkar Park. For this, a budget of Rs 4,276 crore was allocated, of which Rs 4,150 crore was spent. In the investigation of Lokayukta, it was revealed that 34 percent of the money spent (around Rs 1,400 crore) was lost due to corruption with the connivance of departmental ministers and officials. In the report of the Lokayukta, it was recommended that an FIR be registered and an investigation be carried out into the case. On January 1, 2014, the FIR of this case was lodged by Inspector of UP Vigilance Establishment, Ram Naresh Singh Rathore at the Gomtinagar police station.
