Jharkhand: Road construction projects in Sahibganj under ED’s lens

Some of the road construction projects in the Sahibganj district awarded in the last few years have drawn the attention of the Enforcement Directorate which is investigating tender scams and illegal mining cases.

Tenders for the construction of several important roads namely Barharwa-Barhet, Borio-Rajmahal, Sahibganj-Barhet, and others were awarded to some of the contractors. The total length of the road is not less than 100 km, and, so the total construction cost must be to the tune of Rs 100 crore. Even some of the projects namely road, check dam, and others of the neighbouring Godda district are under the scanner of the ED.

It is alleged that on the instruction of a powerful syndicate these contracts were awarded to some selected persons for which dummy companies were used. It is alleged that the government suffered revenue loss also.

The illegal mining probe was originally generated from an FIR lodged by Pakur-based businessman Shambhu Nandan Kumar at Barharwa police station in Sahibganj district. He named Jharkhand government minister Alamgir Alam, CM Hemant Soren’s MLA representative Pankaj Mishra for preventing him from participating in an auction.  The preliminary probe of the Enforcement Directorate revealed that a syndicate of powerful politicians and their associates had formed several proxy firms to grab government tenders, especially in the districts of Santhal Pargana.

A preliminary probe revealed as many as seven to eight firms having dubious credentials were primarily used as front companies. These entities participated in the tender process to help the main company to grab the tender. The ED is also investigating whether or not minister Alamgir Alam and other politicians directly or indirectly intervened in managing tenders and used their influence.

“If some selected firms or companies get the majority of contracts where the same set of companies are participants then this is not a coincidence. The number of such suspicious firms may be more than a dozen. The ED investigating the whole gamut of the scam has raided the premises of some suspects. The investigation is not limited to a particular case,” said sources.