Gandhinagar

Former IAS officer and a former executive chairman of the state-owned Metrolink Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) Sanjay Gupta, arrested in connection with a Rs 113-crore scam, was today sent to 5-day police custody.

Additional Sessions Judge N G Dave remanded Gupta and former construction manager of MEGA (which is constructing Ahmedabad metro) Radhesh Bhatt in custody of CID, Gandhinagar.

CID arrested them yesterday on the charges of financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 113 crore when both were with MEGA in 2012.

Gupta quit IAS in 2003 to start his own business. He owns Neesa group which runs hotels. He was appointed the executive chairman of Metro project in 2011 and resigned in August 2013.

CID, which sought a 14-day custody for the two accused, alleged Gupta and seven of his subordinate officers were involved in the siphoning off of Rs 133 crore by presenting forged bills and bogus documents related to ground filling work carried out near Bhat village for Metro project in 2012.

According to payment certificates, filling work was done for over more than 20 lakh cubic meteres, for which MEGA paid Rs 147.11 crore. However, an audit by Gujarat government’s technical unit showed that land filling had been done only in over 9.42 lakh cubic meters.

Thus, Rs 113 crore were paid for a work which had not been carried out, charges CID.

Gupta also allegedly floated several bogus firms by appointing Neesa Group employees as directors and showed these firms as material suppliers. He paid Rs 11.12 crore to seven such companies and the money eventually went to his own accounts, say the investigators.

CID has also alleged that Gupta accepted a bribe of Rs 60 crore in the form of commission from other suppliers.

The prosecution said that CID needed a 14-day remand to get to the bottom of the scam and to recover Rs 113 crore.

However, Gupta’s lawyer I H Syed argued that no interrogation was necessary as the case was based on documentary evidence, which was already with CID.