EOW took action after three years of investigation.
HighLights
Contractor Bharat Gupta had complained to EOW about tender irregularities against two officials of Mandi Board. Tenders were declared invalid despite the documents arriving on time.
State Bureau, Naiduniya.Bhopal. On Monday, the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) has registered a case against two officials of Madhya Pradesh State Agricultural Marketing Board (Mandi Board) on charges of bias and irregularities in the tender. In this, Salil Garg, Superintendent Engineer in Charge and Chakresh Sharma, Deputy Engineer in Charge have been made accused.
Sehore contractor Bharat Gupta, who was involved in the tender process, had complained about the matter to EOW in October 2021. Here, after investigation for almost three years, if the complaint was found to be true, a case has been registered under other sections including fraud.
tender of three markets
In the investigation of the complaint, it was found that three construction sites were Kalimata Seed Producer Cooperative Society Gram Panchayat Bihar, Narsinghgarh (Rajgarh), Seed Producer Cooperative Society Pipalkheda Gram Panchayat Khai Kheda, Sehore and Adarsh Seed Producer Process and Marketing Cooperative Society Padalya, Gram Panchayat Pipalkheda. A tender worth Rs 95.31 lakh for Sehore was issued on the e-tender portal.
It was uploaded online on February 6, 2021. Information regarding this tender was also given in five newspapers. As per the condition, the tenderers had to receive the attested photocopies of the required documents related to the tender and the original copy of the affidavit by 5.30 pm on 26 February 2021 through speed post registered post at Mandi Board Headquarters.
fraud in tender
In this tender, Vibhaer Verma, Ajay Kumar Jain, Hariom Construction and Bharat Gupta respectively participated on the online portal of the tender. Of these, the technical bid envelope of complainant Bharat Gupta had reached 5.14 pm (scheduled time 5:30 pm) on 26 February 2021. It is alleged that both the officers conspired with other tenderers and invalidated Bharat Gupta’s documents and excluded him from the tender.