Raipur, May 5 The Economic Offences Wing has arrested seven persons, including senior executives of manpower firms, in a case linked to alleged irregularities in overtime payments in Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corp Ltd (CSMCL) during the previous Congress rule, officials said.
Businessman Anwar Dhebar, elder brother of Raipur's former mayor Aijaz Dhebar, was apprehended in the case in February. Anwar Dhebar is in judicial remand for his alleged involvement in multiple cases, including an alleged liquor scam, in the state.
Those arrested on Monday are Neeraj Kumar Chaudhary, finance and tax consultant associated with Eagle Inter Solutions Ltd and Alert Commandos Pvt Ltd; Ajay Lohia, Director of Alert Commandos Pvt Ltd; Ajit Darandale and Amit Prabhakar Salunke, Directors of Sumit Facilities; Amit Mittal, Chairman and Director of A-to-Z Infraservices Ltd; and Rajiv Dwivedi and Sanjeev Jain, Directors of Prime One Workforce Pvt Ltd (all private manpower firms), officials said.
All the accused were arrested and presented before a special court, which granted their custodial remand to the Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offences Wing till May 11 for further probe into the case related to CSMCL, the ACB/EOW said in a statement.
During the remand period, the ACB/EOW will conduct detailed questioning regarding the preparation of fake bills, distribution of illegal commissions, fund utilisation, and the involvement of other beneficiaries, the state's anti-graft probe agency said.
According to officials, the case originated after the Enforcement Directorate's Raipur unit seized Rs 28.8 lakh in cash from three individuals on November 29, 2023, and shared the inputs with the state government, prompting registration of an FIR.
An ACB/EOW investigation indicated that from 2019-20 to 2023-24 (when Congress was in power in Chhattisgarh), nearly Rs 115 crore was disbursed to various manpower agencies under the pretext of overtime payments.
Instead of being paid to employees, a substantial portion of the funds was allegedly siphoned off by company directors through fraudulent and inflated billing, the statement added.
The accused generated fake overtime bills without proper records of work, attendance, or payment details. The misappropriated funds were allegedly diverted as commissions to certain officials of CSMCL and private individuals, while a significant share was retained by the companies, the ACB/EOW officials said.
Preliminary findings suggest the scam involved systematic manipulation of the government payment mechanism, indicating an organised financial fraud that caused significant loss to the state exchequer, they said.
Further revelations are expected as the probe progresses, the officials added.
