Surat Police Book 19 in ₹5.37 Crore Kickback Scam at AM/NS Hazira

Surat: A suspected kickback racket involving procurement contracts worth ₹5.37 crore at ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AM/NS) has come to light, with five company officials and 14 others booked by the police.

The Hazira police registered an FIR on charges of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and organised crime after an internal vigilance probe allegedly uncovered a commission network that operated through relatives and associates for nearly six years.

The complaint was filed by AM/NS Vigilance Adviser Shaktisinh Parmar, and the investigation has now been transferred to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

According to the FIR, Satyanand Manmath Patra, an official in the company’s Research and Development (R&D) department, allegedly conspired with others to collect commissions from Surat-based Rama Gum Industries Pvt Ltd in exchange for procurement orders. Police alleged that Patra pressured the company to pay commissions on a per-kilogram basis for materials supplied to AM/NS plants.

The complaint states that the R&D department at the AM/NS Hazira plant develops products used in pellet manufacturing. Bentonite and other bonding materials are procured for the company’s pellet plants in Paradip and Visakhapatnam.

Investigators alleged that Patra and his team developed a guar gum-based bonding material and secured a patent for it. Around 2019-20, he reportedly approached Rama Gum Industries to manufacture the patented product.

Police claimed Patra persuaded the firm’s owner, Mitul Shah, and marketing manager, Mehul Mehta, by promising substantial orders from AM/NS, prompting the company to invest in production facilities.

The complaint further alleges that Patra initially delayed approvals for product samples and purchase orders before demanding a commission of ₹100 per kg, which was later negotiated down to between ₹25 and ₹40 per kg.

To allegedly receive the kickbacks, Patra is accused of using fake brokerage bills and routing payments through the bank accounts of relatives and associates. Police have also named Sahib Mohammad Sabir Mohammad of AM/NS Hazira, Hariprasad, Senior General Manager at AM/NS Paradip, Barun Harichandan of AM/NS Bhubaneswar, former AM/NS employee Yash Hemant Patel, along with 14 relatives and associates.

According to police, between January 2020 and November 2025, procurement orders worth ₹36.70 crore were awarded to Rama Gum Industries for supplying around 22.7 lakh kg of material—11.50 lakh kg to the Paradip plant and 11.20 lakh kg to the Visakhapatnam plant.

The alleged irregularities surfaced after the company initiated an internal vigilance inquiry based on intelligence inputs. The probe reportedly found that company officials had conspired to collect commissions and routed the money through bank accounts belonging to their relatives and associates. DeshGujarat