Ahmedabad: Five more persons, including Gujarat minister Bachubhai Khabad’s second son, were arrested on Monday for their alleged involvement in an alleged Rs 71-crore scam in the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in Dahod.
Kiran Khabad was taken into police custody two days after his elder brother Balvant was arrested in the same case. The duo was on the run for around three weeks.
Confirming Kiran’s arrest, Dahod police superintendent Rajdeepsinh Zala identified the other four as Dahod’s deputy district development officer Rasik Rathwa, taluka panchayat officers Dilip Chauhan and Bhavesh Rathod, and Parth Baria, the proprietor of one of the 35 firms allegedly involved in the irregularities.
The total number of arrests in the case thus went up to 12, all of whom have been booked for cheating, breach of trust, forgery, and criminal conspiracy.
Bachubhai Khabad, minister of state for Panchayats & Agriculture, is yet to comment on the arrests of his two sons.
The scam, linked to MNREGA projects in Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur talukas of the tribal-dominated Dahod district of Gujarat, surfaced earlier this year when the district rural development authority conducted an inquiry after representations about the irregularities.
An investigation revealed that payments to the contracted firms were made without the completion of work or supply of goods.
