New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today arrested suspended engineer of Noida Authority Yadav Singh in connection with an alleged corruption case against him. Singh faces two separate CBI cases for amassing assets disproportionate to his source of income and for high-level corruption in award of contracts.
According to official sources, Yadav Singh will be produced in the CBI court in Ghaziabad. They said the case relates to allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Singh.
Singh's arrest follows detailed questioning regarding his business links, parties who were allegedly involved in bribery and his businesses. According to sources, Singh was also grilled on various aspects of the two cases and the projects handled by him.
The CBI is also said to have confronted Singh with certain related documents. Besides being evasive during the examination, Singh is believed to have failed at explaining some new evidence gathered by the investigating agency.
Singh's arrest comes as part of the CBI's ongoing investigation in an alleged corruption case. Project Engineer Raminder Singh, who was the first to be arrested in connection with the case, has revealed the entire modus operandi adopted in the award of contracts under Yadav's instructions.
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According to sources, Raminder told the agency that a commission of 5 per cent was the unwritten rule for each and every contract that was awarded by Yadav. The money was then distributed and reached everyone in the chain – right from the chief engineer to the audit controller. Contracts were decided on mobile phone through SMSs to ensure secrecy.
Sources said it was Raminder Singh's arrest that eventually led to the revelation of several officials involved in the scam. Names of chief engineer Yadav Singh, chief project engineer, chief maintenance engineer, project engineer and others also came up during the interrogation of Raminder. He is said to have confessed to receiving 10 paise for every Rs 100 earned.
Raminder is believed to have further revealed during questioning that he would inform Yadav of all contracts and the corresponding 'cuts'. Raminder said that Yadav had instructed him to ensure that his cut reached a certain accountant in Noida Authority.
Raminder, as per the sources, was also confronted with a document titled 'ACEOV'. When asked what it stood for, Raminder said the abbreviation stood for V K Pawar, who served as the Additional Chief Executive Officer.
In July 2015, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court directed CBI to investigate the case stating that allegations were most serious and the probe was complex.
Yadav singh has served as engineer-in-chief of Noida Authority, Greater Noida Authority and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority. Raids conducted by the Income Tax Department in November 2014 showed that Singh owned property disproportionate to his known sources of income.
