BHOPAL: A cowshed that was supposed to shelter stray cattle for Rs 37.85 lakh had little to show on the ground despite Rs 20.22 lakh being paid out: no cattle sheds, no borewell, no water tank, only a partly built boundary wall and an incomplete structure.Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has registered an FIR against six people, including engineers and a contractor, over alleged fraud in the construction of a cowshed at Dabhoura in Rewa district.According to EOW, the project was sanctioned under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme to provide shelter for destitute cattle. The plan included a cowshed, calf shed, fodder store, sick-cattle shed, borewell, a 6,000-litre water tank, boundary wall and land levelling.However, investigators found that officials of the Rural Engineering Services (RES) division allegedly bypassed the open tender process to favour a supplier, Deendayal Kushwaha of Chhatarpur. The probe found that two allegedly forged short-tender documents for the same work were prepared, dated Dec 3 and Dec 31, 2020.EOW said neither the tender document fee nor the earnest money deposit was paid. Although quotations were sought for 28 materials, the supplier submitted an incomplete rate list covering only nine. Despite this, officials allegedly prepared a comparative statement declaring the firm the lowest bidder and issued the work order.The alleged irregularities extended to billing. According to EOW, bills totalling Rs 27.38 lakh were uploaded on the MGNREGA portal, of which Rs 20.22 lakh was paid.Physical verification, however, found only an 80-by-25-foot partly constructed boundary wall and an incomplete building deemed unsuitable for use. Essential facilities, including sheds, a borewell and a water tank, were missing, the agency said.EOW has booked six people, including former executive engineers Rajendra Singh Dhurve, D S Armo and Himanshu Tiwari, former sub-divisional officer Jagdish Singh Rajput, former assistant grade-III employee Laxman Prasad Shukla and supplier Deendayal Kushwaha.They have been booked under IPC sections relating to criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Further investigation is underway.
