New Delhi: The CBI registered Wednesday an FIR against unidentified officials of Chhattisgarh for allegedly siphoning off about Rs 1,000 crore from funds meant for the rehabilitation and welfare of physically disabled people, officials said. The amount was siphoned off over a decade through sham transactions, the probe body said.
The CBI registered the case on orders issued January 30 by the Chhattisgarh High Court.
Besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the agency has also invoked Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to criminal conspiracy (120-B), cheating (420), criminal breach of trust by public servant (409) and forgery (467) among others, the officials said. About 11 senior officers of the state are under the scanner, they informed.
The State Resource Centre (SRC), set up in 2004, was given the mandate to set up and operate Physical Referral Rehabilitation Centres (PRRCs) for the welfare of physically disabled people, the officials said.
But no tangible activity or recruitment process was undertaken for the PRRCs and it is alleged that the institutions were only running on papers. It is alleged in a PIL that some people were shown as employees even when some of them were working in other departments.
The SRC allegedly kept withdrawing money from the exchequer for the payment for PRRC employees when no one was actually paid. Many payments were allegedly made in cash, thereby, avoiding banking transactions, the CBI officials said.
PTI