A former Gujarat-cadre IAS officer was arrested in Dahod district on Monday for allegedly running six bogus government offices that received grants worth Rs 18.6 crore for implementing "irrigation-related projects". A local court in Dahod on Tuesday remanded former IAS officer B D Ninama to six days in police custody until December 4. The police said the fake offices in Dahod were run by conman Sandeep Rajput, who was arrested on October 26 by the Chhota Udepur police after an FIR was lodged following a police complaint — alleging impersonation and running of a bogus irrigation division office at Bodeli in the district — filed by a clerk at the Chhota Udepur project administrator's office. In the case of Chhota Udepur, Rs 4.16 crore in government grants were diverted by setting up a fake office of the executive engineer for irrigation projects. The fake office was busted in Bodeli on October 26, in which seven persons, including Rajput and his accomplices Abu Bakr Saiyyed and Ankit Suthar, were arrested. The three conmen carried out a similar operation in Dahod, where the scam was unearthed when a special investigation team was probing the Chhota Udepur case. The FIR was lodged at Dahod A Division police station on November 10, based on a police complaint filed by Bhavesh Bamaniya — senior clerk at the district's project administrator's office. It stated that following the FIR registered at Chhota Udepur on October 26, the Dahod Project Administrator for Tribal Area Sub Plan, Smit Lodha, had on October 30 directed his office to set up an inquiry to ascertain if a similar scam had occurred in the district. The inquiry report, presented to Lodha on November 9, identified six fake offices and a scam of Rs 18.6 crore. The FIR stated that Rajput, along with accomplices, "submitted 100 project estimates with the approval of the former project administrator (Ninama) and acquired a sum of Rs 18.6 crore into the bank accounts of six fake offices between February 2018 and March 2023". It added that Rajput posed as the executive engineer of the six fake offices in Dahod running under the names of deputy executive engineer of Narmada Water Resources, water supply department; executive engineer of Narmada irrigation canal department; executive engineer of irrigation project division; executive engineer of irrigation project division 2; executive engineer of irrigation project division at another address and executive engineer of pipeline project division. Each of the offices siphoned close to Rs 3 crore of government grants under the tribal sub plan. Dahod SP Rajdeepsinh Zala told The Indian Express, "Six fake offices were set up in Dahod and all the offices were operated by Rajput, who posed as a Class I executive engineer. They received over 100 contracts valued over Rs 18 crore, mainly tribal grants given by the government, which included performing irrigation-related tasks like installing taps and wells in people’s homes.” The police said the scam took place between 2018 and 2023, when Ninama was first posted as the Project Administrator in Dahod district and even when he was later transferred as the District Development Officer in Porbandar. "Ninama took voluntary retirement this February. But after evidence of his involvement with the impostors in setting up bogus offices in Dahod district came to light, he was arrested on Monday. They siphoned government grants meant for tribals by receiving the sum directly in the bank accounts of the bogus offices," Zala said. He added that Suthar – the third person to be arrested in the Dahod case so far besides from Ninama and Rajput – executed the groundwork of opening bank accounts and coordinating with government offices for submission of project proposals. Rajput and Suthar had named Ninama during questioning, following their arrest by the Dahod police, investigators said. Also, the Dahod police is set to arrest Saiyyed – a government contractor – who is currently said to be recuperating from a heart attack at a hospital. The Dahod police has booked the accused under sections 170 (pretending to hold any particular office as public servant and act in such assumed character), 419 (cheating by personation), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of a valuable security), 468 (committing forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using a forged document as genuine), 472 (Making or possessing counterfeit seal with intent to commit forgery), 474 (possession of forged documents shown as genuine) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, similar to the charges invoked in the Chhota Udepur case.
