Kanpur: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing alleged tender and contract scams in the Kanpur Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Wednesday conducted an extensive investigation at the civic body’s headquarters and seized documents related to tenders, payments, firm registrations and development works.The SIT, led by additional commissioner of police Archana Singh, reached KMC headquarters around 11.30 am and remained there till 5 pm. The team inspected files related to payments and registration of firms at the office of chief engineer SFA Zaidi and collected documents pertaining to the five firms named in the cases.During scrutiny, the team found certain discrepancies in payment-related documents of Kaila Enterprises. SIT members collected printouts and photographs of relevant documents and sought information from KMC officials and employees.The team questioned chief engineer SFA Zaidi, executive engineers Diwakar Bhaskar and RK Singh and collected documents from engineering department employees Bhupendra Singh and Ajay Pandey. Video statements of the officials who had lodged FIRs were also recorded. The SIT obtained signatures of officials on the prescribed proforma regarding their cooperation in the investigation.The prolonged presence of the SIT created tension at KMC headquarters as officials remained under scrutiny throughout the day.The municipal commissioner had lodged six separate FIRs against seven firms in connection with the alleged tender racket. The police have arrested contractors Rajjan Bajpai and Sandeep Jain, while alleged kingpin Govind Sharma of Agra is absconding. Sharma is alleged to have secured the maximum number of contracts in the racket. The municipal commissioner has cancelled tenders worth around Rs 100 crore.The firms named in the cases are M/s Dilip Bajpai, M/s Ajay Enterprises, M/s Parasnath Builders, Kaila Enterprises, Tirupati Traders and Jagdamba Enterprises. Two FIRs have been registered against Jagdamba Enterprises.Five FIRs were registered on complaints of the municipal commissioner, while one was lodged on the complaint of contractor Sunny Singh.The SIT is currently focusing on payments and the registration of firms and is examining documents related to their registration and contractual works.Officials said further action would be taken against those found guilty after completion of the investigation.Police Commissioner Raghubir Lal had disclosed details of the FIRs and the police action at a media conference on Tuesday. He had also announced the constitution of the SIT comprising ADCP Archana Singh, ACP Swarup Nagar Jyoti, Fazalganj Inspector Dhananjay Pandey and Swarup Nagar Inspector Devendra Singh.
