Rajasthan Jal Jeevan scam: FIR filed against ex-minister & others

Jaipur, Nov 5 (IANS) The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered an FIR against 22 people including former state minister Mahesh Joshi in the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam, officials on Tuesday.

The FIR has also been registered against the JJM's financial advisor, chief engineer, additional chief engineer, superintendent engineer and executive engineer.

Officials said that the role of officials and contractors of the Water Supply Department will be investigated. The ACB has also clarified that Mahesh Joshi will be called for questioning soon.

Departmental officials and contractors will also be questioned in this matter, said officials.

The scam in Jal Jeevan Mission was raised by veteran BJP leader Kirodi Lal Meena during the Gehlot government.

Meena had gone to Ashok Nagar police station to register a report. He also sat on a dharna outside the police station when the case was not registered. Two days later on 22 June 2023, he was detained by the police. However, even after this, Kirodi continued to protest.

The ACB registered an FIR on January 18, 2024, after making a thorough investigation.

According to the ACB, the interrogation of Executive Engineer Mayaram Saini in Behror revealed that there has been corruption in the work of JJM in the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).

Mahesh Mittal and Padmachand Jain reportedly made fake certificates and took tenders at various places in Rajasthan in connivance with the officials of the department.

The ACB investigation has also confirmed that Mahesh Mittal and Padmachand Jain got fake certificates of IRCON International Limited made and tenders issued. Surprisingly, the officials ignored the verification and kept making continuous payments by giving tenders to ineligible firms.

On completion of the investigation, the ACB registered an FIR on January 18, 2024.

Officials said that the ACB got the lead from an email ID via which documents for tender were sent. On investigating each ID, the names of different officers were revealed.

--IANS

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