Congress VP Hira Jotva arrested in Rs 7.3 crore MGNREGA scam in Bharuch; party says ‘vindictive move by BJP'
An alleged 'outsourced' technical staff person, Ramesh Tailor, was also arrested on Thursday.
Bharuch district police said that evidence shows Jotva allegedly being a 'partner' in both firms and 'having directly used the siphoned funds' from the MGNREGA scheme.
District Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda told The Indian Express, 'We have evidence that shows that Jotva was a sleeping partner in both the agencies that were contracted in Bharuch and had a direct involvement in the irregularity being investigated. We are also probing the money trail as there is evidence that Jotva has used the money that was siphoned off… He was brought to Bharuch and arrested late on Thursday night.'
The FIR was lodged by Assistant MGNREGA account officer P U Chaudhary of the Bharuch District Rural Development Authority against Veraval-based Jalaram Enterprises (owned by Piyush Nukani) and Murlidhar Enterprises (owned by Jodha Sabhad).
It states, 'The irregularity relates to MGNREGA projects in Amod, Jambusar, and Hansot talukas of the district… As per the complaint received from an infrastructure company, the two agencies contracted to supply material had passed bills in violation of tender conditions…'
The arrests of Jotva and Tailor are the first in the case as agency owners Nukani and Sabhad are 'on the run', police said.
Chavda said that the two agencies, as per the procedure under MGNREGA, had appointed an outsourced technical assistant, Ramesh Tailor, who was stationed at the office of the Taluka Development Officer (TDO) of Hansot taluka. He allegedly 'created forged documents at Jotva's behest'.
Chavda said, 'Tailor created the documents used for the misappropriation, including forged bills… The MGNREGA provisions mandatorily require the expenses to be in the ratio of 60:40 in favour of labour and raw material. However, in this case, the accused showed material cost up to 80% of the total amount, which disturbs the ratio and indicates a scam.'
Chavda added that apart from inflated bills, the agencies allegedly also showed completed works which 'did not exist on the ground' to embezzle funds. Both Chavda and Tailor will be produced in court on Friday evening.
Reacting to Jotva's arrest, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee Spokesperson Manish Doshi told The Indian Express that Jotva has been 'victimised' as he 'did not succumb to the pressure of quitting the Congress'.
'The story being weaved against Hirabhai Jotva that just because two agency owners are known to him, he is involved in the scam, exposes the two-faced approach of the BJP… The state government, on the one hand, has not even initiated an action against its Cabinet Minister Bachubhai Khabad even after both his sons have been arrested in multiple FIRs for alleged MGNREGA scams but here, Jotva is arrested just for being acquainted with the agencies,' he said.
'Jotva has documents to fight his case. He is a powerful leader of the Ahir community in his region… There has been a lot of pressure on him to quit the Congress since a while now but he has not succumbed. This arrest is a result of the vindictive nature of BJP, which wanted him to toe their line. We have full faith in the judiciary and we will fight a legal battle,' Doshi said.
Senior BJP leaders refused to comment on the Congress' stand in the issue. Jotva, who is among the nine Vice Presidents of Gujarat Congress, had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 from Junagadh and also the Keshod Assembly constituency in the Gujarat Assembly polls of 2022.
The FIR states that following a detailed investigation into the complaint, it was found that in works of building roads in villages of Jambusar, Amod and Hansot talukas, 'inflated bills of material supply' were allegedly presented while only a small amount of material was allegedly used. 'The bills put forth from Jambusar were for 128.40 cubic metres of material, while the actual material used was 28.32 cubic metres against the stipulated use of 103 cubic metres…' the FIR states. Similar discrepancies were also 'discovered' in a total of 56 villages.
The Bharuch district FIR had come just a week after the Dahod district police had re-arrested two sons of Gujarat Minister of State for Panchayat and Agriculture Bachubhai Khabad in one common and two separate FIRs lodged in Dahod B-Division police station to probe another alleged MGNREGA-related scam of over Rs 100 crore.
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