CBI Files Corruption Charges Against NBCC Chairman

India's Central Bureau of Investigation has filed corruption charges against NBCC India Ltd. chairman Anoop Kumar Mittal in a case related to a redevelopment project, Bloomberg reported.

A case was filed against Mittal and four others on Friday, Bloomberg said, adding that calls made to Mittal's office phone on the weekend were not answered.

A news report by wire agency PTI added that Mittal was booked for alleged corruption in the Rs 2,150 crore redevelopment project of the ITPO Complex at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. A government official, Pradeep Kumar Mishra, and another person - Akashdeep Chauhan, were also arrested last night after the Bureau carried out searches in Ghaziabad, Delhi and Mumbai, said PTI citing a CBI source.

According to the PTI report, the case involves the allotment of a subcontract to Mumbai-based Capacite Structures.

The news report says CBI alleged in its first information report that a contract for Rs 2,149.93 crore was awarded by NBCC to a joint venture of Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Pvt. Ltd. and Shapoorji Pallonji Qatar WLL.

Another infrastructure company - the Mumbai-based Capacite Structures was trying to get work from Shapoorji Pallonji on subcontract basis.

According to the CBI FIR, the deal for the subcontract was allegedly influenced by a government official who demanded a Royal Enfield bike as illegal gratification to exert his influence on NBCC’s Mittal and swing the subcontracting work in favour of Capacite Structures.

The FIR alleged that Sanjay Kulkarni, the managing director of Capacite Structures, approached a middleman, Rishabh Agrawal, who was said to have had a good rapport with government officials.

Agrawal approached Pradeep Kumar Mishra, a government official close to certain senior functionaries of NBCC.

Under the influence of Mishra, Mittal allegedly directed an executive director of NBCC to settle the matter in favour of Capacite Structures.

CBI has filed an FIR against Mittal, Mishra, Kulkarni, Agrawal and Chouhan for criminal conspiracy and corruption.

(With inputs from PTI)