‘Absconding’ Special Class Contractor, Associate Arrested For Misappropriation Of Govt Funds In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Monday arrested special class contractors Bijay Kumar Agrawal and his power of attorney holder, Deepak Kumar Agrawal, for allegedly misappropriating government funds in construction of four 100-seated hostels for SC students in Sonepur district under ST & SC Development Department.

“The duo was absconding from their residence in Balangir since initiation of an inquiry into the matter. They were apprehended by a team of Odisha Vigilance from Rourkela and are now being examined at Vigilance Cell Division Office, Cuttack,” a release said.

According to a Vigilance release, the ST & SC Development Department had signed an MoU, entrusting construction of the hostel buildings in KBK districts to Hindustan Steel Works Construction Ltd.(HSCL). These included 26 120-seated ST Hostels in Rayagada district, 12 100-seated SC Hostels in Balangir (8) and Sonepur (4) districts and 3 upgraded HS at Gouramunda, Raska and Bijadore, at an estimated cost of Rs 43,93,68,937. The HSCL then floated tenders for the projects and entered into an agreement with Agrawal for construction of 12 hostel buildings at a cost of Rs 8,12,30,877, including 4 in Sonepur district at Rs 2,71,24,207.

Based on reliable inputs about misappropriation of funds and substandard work in construction of the hostels in Balangir and Sonepur districts in 2019-20, technical inspection of all 4 buildings was conducted by Vigilance Technical Wing of Odisha Vigilance. “During preliminary surface technical evaluation, large-scale cracks, seepages, low width of roof plaster, use of poor quality wood materials against prescribed sal wood, use of non standard low-quality electrical and sanitary fittings instead of prescribed branded products, and many other defects/deviations were detected, resulting in huge loss to the state exchequer,” it further said.

The projects were executed by Agrawal and his associate in alleged collusion with the officials of Hindustan Steel Works Construction Ltd (HSCL) and other officials.

Following this, a case was registered under Sections 13(2)r/w 13(1)(a) of Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and  406/409/420/120-B of the IPC, it added.

In recent weeks the SC, ST development department has detected 40 hostels which can be made functional, official sources informed, adding, 28 of these have already been made operational. In Raygada and Keonjhar districts cases also have been lodged against HSCL for not completing hostels.