The Vigilance Department and the CBI have detected that sub-standard quality steel between 10-18 per cent lesser in weight was used in construction of electrification structure work in three sectors on the railway tracks Jammu to Udhampur, Udhampur to Katra and Ghaziabad to Moradabad in 2016 raising a question mark over the working of officials of Rail India Technical & Economic Service (RITES) supervised the work as well as technical staff of Railway Electrification Project office at Ambala Cantt.
This project was finalised in July 2010, work started in May 2011 and completed in September 2016. During investigation by Vigilance Department, the contractor in it report in February 2018 admitted that the weight of steel used in construction of structures during electrification work on above rail tracks was lesser in weigh than specified in the tender and work order, which is unsafe likely to play havoc to pilgrims visiting holy Mata Vaishno Devi temple Katra while travelling in the trains.
The scam was detected when railways decided to send left out steel stocks to 16 points across the country where work was going on. Some of the steel stocks were sent to CPD near Chinnai where structure work was also going on and the concerned engineers while using such stock suspected the quality of the steel not up to the mark, weight lesser than specified in the order and made a complaint to railway electrification central head office Allahabad, which forwarded investigation in the case to vigilance department in 2016. The case was forwarded to CBI for thorough investigation into the fraud.
Information also revealed that CBI officials investigating the case allege senior officials of the railway electrification department is trying to save the officials involved in this scam providing lack of cooperation to investigating team to expose the scam and take action against alleged accuse although a report was submitted to Railway Electrification Central Office Allahabad.
Information also reveals that all concerned railway officers of the railway electrification department are trying to misguide CBI and vigilance department team delaying the matter and submit final report. During inspection, it was detected that steel stocks lying at the temporary godown at Manmad (Jammu) were having no brand mentioned on it suspecting removed by the concerned persons involved in the scam.
The investigation team disclosed that the concerned engineers and the staff of quality control department at Ambala Cantt railway project office when contacted were not prepared to speak anything in this regard.
However, when investigation in this regard are still in the process, the vigilance team detected huge quantity of stocks including steel of value worth crores belonging to the railways used for electrification project on Jammu-Udhampur rail track was found missing and embezzlements in the stocks were brought to the notice of Director General Railway Security Force Arun Kumar who deployed four teams led by Assistant Commissioner at Jammu to investigate mystery of missing stocks and directed to register a case against those responsible for the shortage and embezzlements.
The investigating team questioning four concerned officials of the Railway Electrification department two each at railway electrification project office in North at Ambala Cantt and officials undertaking work at Jammu as well as senior officer of the firm Quality Engineers & Contractors Satish Mandvakar to find the fate of missing goods.
Preliminary investigation reveals that there is nowhere about of missing stocks left unused after completion of work, although most of the stocks were found received back in the stock but not entered into the ledger suspecting due to malefied attention.
Information also reveals that after the embezzlements were detected, railway electrification department served the notice to the construction company for recovery of money worth crores of rupees towards shortage of stocks.
