Uttarakhand: Crores of rupees scam in ITBP’s Pithoragarh battalion, CBI files case against six officers
A scam of Rs 1.75 crore has come to light in the seventh battalion (Mirthi, Pithoragarh) of ITBP in Uttarakhand. The CBI has registered two cases against six officers and contractors. It is alleged that these officers, in connivance with the contractors, have tampered with the freight charges of ration, kerosene and other goods. The first scam of more than Rs 22 lakh took place between 2017 and 2019. Whereas, the second scam of more than one and a half crore rupees took place between 2020 and 2021.
According to the information received from the CBI, in the first case, a case has been registered against Commandant Mahendra Pratap, Deputy Commandant Deepak Gogoi, Deputy Commandant Mukesh Chand Meena, contractor Madan Singh Rana, Puran Singh and Kundan Singh Bhandari, who were posted in Mirthi between 2017 and 2019. It is alleged that Commandant Mahendra Pratap and other officers, in connivance with these contractors, have shown the transportation of six thousand liters of kerosene to various border posts.
For this, they have shown the transportation through porters instead of mules and private vehicles. The documents were tampered with. In this way, a total scam of Rs 22.07 lakh was done in connivance with these contractors. Among them, contractor Madan Singh Rana is a resident of village Tankul in Tehsil Dharchula of Pithoragarh. Whereas, Puran Singh and Kundar Singh Bhandari are residents of Bangbang village.
The then Commandant Mahendra Pratap is currently posted in 29th Battalion ITBP Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh and he is a resident of Thakurdwara, Moradabad. The then Deputy Commandant Deepak Gogoi is posted in 50th Battalion Panchkula, Haryana and is a resident of Assam. Whereas, Mukesh Chandra Meena is currently posted in Multipurpose Sub Depot ITBP Guwahati and is a resident of Karauli, Rajasthan. On the other hand, the second case has been registered against Anuprit T Borkar, who was the Commandant in Mirthi between 2020 and 2021, Deputy Commandant Deepak Gogoi, Deputy Commandant Puran Ram, Deputy Commandant Mukesh Chand Meena and Inspector Anil Kumar Pandey.
It is alleged that they, in connivance with contractor Madan Singh Rana, have committed a scam of Rs 1.54 crore by manipulating the transportation of various materials. They have done this fraud by showing the construction of the front at the border post, transportation of generator sets and transportation of other goods through wrong means. Both these cases have been registered on the complaint of Paramendra Singh, the current Commandant of the Mirthi Battalion.
