Big Twist In Odisha Rs 1.17 Crore Fraud Case; Mastermind Rajesh Kumar Is Real RAW Officer

Bhubaneswar: The third accused, Rajesh Kumar, in the Rs 1.17 crore government works fraud case, has turned out to be a real RAW officer.

This was revealed from his ID card, which he had submitted with the Metropolitan Magistrate, Dwaraka-10, on Sunday, after being apprehended by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) from Sector-23, Dwaraka, on December 18. The court had allowed him five days of transit bail with direction to appear before the SDJM, Bhubaneswar, on or before December 24.

The details will be revealed after he appears in the court here, sources said.

Notably, the complainant, Rikab Chand Munot, proprietor of M/s Rashtriya Stainless Steel, had alleged that Surya Mani Tripathy, Amit Kumar, who were arrested in October, and Rajesh Kumar impersonated themselves as the officers of IAS, PWD and RAW, respectively, and duped him and his son Akshay Munot of Rs 1.17 crore with the help of another lady, who posed as treasury officer, on the pretext of facilitating high-value government contracts/work orders under Pradhan Mantri Yojana in Odisha.

Notably, Mukesh has a branch office of Rashtriya Stainless Steel at Kalinganagar, Bhubaneswar. His son came in contact with Rajesh through a friend in 2017 and he had then introduced himself as a RAW officer.

He subsequently introduced Mukesh and Akshay to Suryamani at Odisha Niwas, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, as an IAS officer, posted as Additional Secretary to Government of Odisha in PWD. They assured to help Mukesh and his son in getting big government contracts.

During the investigation, it was found that the accused created a series of fake documents like work orders purportedly issued by O/o EIC (Civil), Nirman Soudha, Bhubaneswar, and notarised fake agreements with Rashtriya Stainless Steel. They handed over fake/manufactured work orders having a contract value of crores. Fake work orders/agreements/treasury receipts were also seized.

The EOW found that Suryamani was a clerk in the office of DTET (Directorate of Technical Education & Training), Cuttack, whereas Amit was unemployed.