TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Chief Officer of the Mormugao Municipal Council Meghnath Porob, who among others is being investigated over alleged fraud involving garbage compactor tenders, has been issued a final warning to appear before the anti corruption branch (ACB) sleuths next week after failing to respond to two previous summons.
Porob along with former chief officer and sitting Additional Panchayat Director Gopal Parsekar, another chief officer Suchitra Shirodkar, proprietor of Raj Traders Rajesh Marathe and others are under ACB scrutiny in connection with the alleged Rs 1 crore scam in the purchase of refuse collector.
The matter pertains to 2010, when the purchases were carried out without following due procedure as the tender specifications were allegedly not adhered to, resulting in the loss to the State exchequer. Two companies – Raj Traders and Narayan and Allied Engineering Services had bid for the project quoting Rs 32 and Rs 32.50 lakh respectively. A preliminary inquiry found that Narayan and Allied Engineering Services had never applied, and their papers were allegedly forged by Raj Traders. Moreover, instead of 14 cubic meters compactor, the winning bidder had purchased substandard compactor with 9.5 cubic meter capacity in August 2011.
“Some of the concerned officials were aware of the illegalities. But they too were hand-in-gloves with Raj Traders to get the contract. There were various other illegalities unearthed following which a case was registered last year,” sources in the ACB told Herald.
Porob had dodged two previous dates on September 25 and October 7, following which ACB recommended to the Directorate of Municipal Administration to take necessary steps against him. The officer has now been given final warning to appear before ACB sleuths with the documents pertaining to the case. Sources say that the ACB has earlier recommended blacklisting Raj Traders for their alleged involvement in another scam.
