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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
71cr MNREGA scam: Min's son had unlawful access to official portal
Vadodara: The investigation into the Rs 71 crore MNREGA scam, allegedly engineered jointly by a Gujarat minister's two sons and govt officers in Devgadh Baria taluka of Dahod, is throwing up more muck by the day. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The rot ran so deep that Balwant Khabad, the elder son of minister of state for agriculture and panchayats Bachu Khabad, owned the official login credentials for the scheme's portal which no other person other than authorised govt officers can own. This stunning revelation was made by the prosecution in the sessions court in Dahod on Monday during the hearing of applications to cancel bail granted to Balwant and his brother Kiran, a co-accused. While opposing the bail for Balwant, the prosecution told the court of alleged WhatsApp chats that revealed that the login ID and password of the Bhuvan portal used for MNREGA works were shared with Balwant. A senior district police officer confirmed this on condition of anonymity. The portal is used to enter details of completed MNREGA works with geotags and photographs. The official said they are still investigating what the ID was used for. "We are gathering details about the IP addresses used to log in using the ID and password," the official said. Entries regarding the work are to be made by officials, which could be gram rozgar sevaks, technical assistants or other similar officials. The investigating officer moved the applications in the Dahod sessions court after Balwant and Kiran were granted bail by a magisterial court on May 28. The special public prosecutor and counsel representing the brothers submitted their arguments to the court Special public prosecutor Amit Nair pressed for the cancellation of bail even as the application was opposed by senior counsel Sudhir Nanavati. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The court has now kept the applications for orders. The brothers are linked to agencies that supplied material for MNREGA works even though they did not qualify as vendors in the bidding. A total of 32 firms connected with the irregularities were detected in an investigation by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), which registered an offence regarding the scam. Balwant was linked to the firm Shri Raj Construction Co, while Kiran to Shri Raj Traders. Shri Raj Traders was paid Rs 30.04 crore, while Shri Raj Construction Co got Rs 82 lakh. Effectively, the brothers took over 40 per cent of the total amount of the scam.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
MNREGA scam: Minister's son remanded in police custody for four days
Vadodara: Gujarat minister of state for agriculture and panchayat, Bachu Khabad 's second son, Kiran Khabad , was remanded to four days in police custody on Tuesday for questioning into the Rs 71 crore MNREGA scam . The minister's nephew, Dilip Chauhan, was sent to 10 days' police custody remand by a court in Dahod. Four others were remanded to police custody on Tuesday. Khabad's elder son, Balwant, is already in police custody for investigations. Balwant was linked to the firm Shri Raj Construction Co, while Kiran was linked to Shri Raj Traders. These firms were paid over Rs 30.8 crore for the supply of materials, even when they did not qualify as suppliers in a bidding process. The younger Khabad sibling, Kiran, in-charge Dahod deputy district development officer Rasik Rathwa, who was the taluka development officer when the scam took place, and Chauhan were presented in court on Tuesday. The police sought a 14-day remand for each of the accused's interrogation. The court granted a four-day remand for the interrogation of Kiran and Rathwa, while a 10-day remand was granted for the interrogation of Chauhan. Another accused, Bhavesh Rathod, whose firm N J Enterprise was paid Rs 5.19 crore, was formally arrested by Dahod police on Monday night. Rathod was nabbed from Mangrol near Surat on Friday evening. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 4 Live Call Answering Services That Might Help in Boosting Work Efficiency - Truly Surprising! Explorenest Learn More Undo Rathod was presented in court on Tuesday evening and was remanded to police custody for nine days. Dahod police made two other arrests on Tuesday, including a MNREGA MIS operator, Sanjay Baria, and Jagdish Baria, who used to run a construction material supply business in the name of Umaben Madanlal Pateliya. This firm, registered in Vadodara, was paid money amounting to Rs 71.9 lakh for the supply of materials in Devgadhbaria and Dhanpur talukas. Both Sanjay and Jagdish were remanded to police custody for six days. The scam, unearthed in a probe by the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA), involved ineligible firms being given orders for the supply of materials for MNREGA works. The bills of these firms were cleared in the years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24, paying them over Rs 71 crore. A large portion of roads that were to be laid using this material were never made. Firms named after individuals under scanner The list of firms that received money in Dahod include four whose name is that of individuals. These have raised eyebrows as in the case of a firm named Umaben Madanlal Pateliya it has come to light that the person from Devgadhbaria in Dahod district had registered the firm in Vadodara and was supplying material. The three other firms with names of persons include Jasubhai Dhanabhai Nayak, Patel Minaben Manharsinh and Rajalba Akshatsinh Solanki.
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Gujarat mantri Bachu Khabad's socond son Kiran also held in Rs 71 crore MGNREGS scam
VADODARA: Gujarat minister of state for agriculture and panchayat Bachu Khabad's second son, Kiran Khabad (39), was arrested Monday in connection with a Rs 71 crore MGNREGS scam in Dahod. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Three others, including Khabad's nephew Dilip Chauhan, were also arrested, taking the total number of arrests to 11. Kiran's elder brother Balwant Khabad (43) was arrested Saturday. Both are linked to firms that supplied materials for MGNREGS projects in Devgadhbaria and Dhanpur talukas without qualifying through the mandatory bidding process. Police said these firms received funds despite not securing any contracts. A probe by District Rural Development Agency flagged 32 firms. Balwant is tied to Shri Raj Construction Co, which received Rs 82 lakh, while Kiran's Shri Raj Traders was paid over Rs 30 crore - more than 40% of the total funds siphoned off in scam. DRDA's inquiry found that much of the sanctioned roadwork was never executed, with payments made based on falsified progress between 2021-22 and 2023-24.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Guj panchayat minister's son held in 71cr NREGA scam
Vadodara: on Saturday arrested , the son of the Gujarat minister of state for panchayats, , in connection with an alleged Rs 71 crore National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA) scam that was unearthed in the district last month. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Balwant, Khabad's elder son, was linked to firms that received payments for the supply of materials even when they did not qualify through a bidding process. Police said Balwant was linked to Shri Raj Construction Co, while the younger son, Kiran, was connected to Shri Raj Traders. Both firms were among those that received money despite not winning the bid. Police confirmed their links to the firms during the investigation. Balwant and Kiran also applied for anticipatory bail in a Dahod court but later withdrew their petitions. Kiran is still at large. Balwant and Kiran were evading arrest, but the former was caught near Bathwada toll plaza in the district. Another accused in the case, taluka development officer Darshit Patel, presently posted in Kheda, was also arrested. He was earlier posted in Devgadh Baria. Both Balwant and Patel were presented in a Dahod court and were remanded to police custody for five days. This is the first time in recent memory that a sitting minister's son was arrested. The total number of arrests in the scam now stands at seven. The scam was unearthed last month, and an offence was registered by the director of the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA), who conducted an inquiry into the matter after representations about the scam. The state unit of the Congress also made representations about the scam in the assembly and submitted a memorandum. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Dahod DRDA conducted an inquiry after directives from the Dahod district panchayat. The inquiry revealed that 32 firms that supplied materials for NREGA works in Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur villages were not authorised to do so as they had not emerged as the lowest bidders. These include 25 firms that supplied material in Devgadh Baria taluka, four in Dhanpur taluka, and three in both these talukas. The offence mentioned that these firms received an amount of Rs 71 crore towards material. They submitted bills despite not being selected in the bidding process, and these bills were cleared. It also came to light that some works were never taken up, and money was paid to the agencies. Leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly, Amit Chavda, meanwhile, demanded that a special investigation team should be formed for the investigations in the scam. He added that the scam could be much larger and more details can be unearthed if an honest investigation is conducted. Bachu Khabad is a BJP heavyweight and OBC leader who has been an MLA since 2012.
