First fraud case in freight corridor,CBI begins probe

The CBI began probing the first case of financial irregularity in the Dedicated Freight Corridor project.

The CBI has begun probing the first case of alleged financial irregularity in the Rs 50,000-crore Dedicated Freight Corridor project of the Indian Railways.

An internal probe by Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd DFCCIL the special purpose vehicle executing the mega project has detected collusion and criminal conspiracy by DFCCIL officials to allegedly defraud the government of crores during land acquisition. The scam,initially pegged at around Rs 100 crore,involves inflated compensation being paid to landowners for items other than land in the Vadodara region.

As per the Railway Amendment Act 2008,not just for the land,compensation has to be also paid for items like standing crops,borewells,shops,huts,cattle-sheds,trees and other structures. The internal probe has found that in the Vadodara section,officials have ostensibly paid a lot more for these items than their market rates.

Because DFCCIL doesnt have jurisdiction over private parties like beneficiaries of the land acquisition and approved evaluators who evaluated the various kinds of compensation awarded,the probe has recommended handing over the case to the CBI. And suspending land acquisition in Vadodara till a proper picture emerges following the CBI investigation.

The project,announced during UPA I,aims to create railway infrastructure to cater exclusively to freight trains on major trunk routes so as to free up space for passenger train operations. Funding for the project is being arranged from the Japanese government,World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

For instance,a dilapidated structure in the middle of a piece of land has been awarded a compensation of close to Rs 2 crore. Similarly,there are several instances where compensation has been awarded for items other than land which,prima facie,does not correspond to their actual or market value, a source said.

The fact that these land-acquisition proceedings have not been videographed with date and time stamps has further complicated the issue.

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The initial probe has clearly stated that while the land and the solatium payable on it have some basis on record,items of compensation which are field-dependent have become suspect.

The probe has also stated that Vadodaras Chief Project Manager has handled the highest percentage of land acquisition in Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and has disbursed close to Rs 530 crore of the total Rs 600 crore given as compensation in this section.

Vadodaras Chief Project Manager S P S Gupta,when contacted,said that he had no knowledge about any probe. No Vigilance official ever visited me and no explanation was sought from me, Gupta said.

DFCCILs acting Managing Director A K Dutta said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on a Vigilance matter. Even a CBI probe would still be at a very preliminary stage. But if anybody has done an irregularity,he must be punished, he added.

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Asked about the alleged irregularities,Dutta said: Land in the Vadodara area is quite expensive as compared to neighbouring places in Gujarat and Rajasthan. In fact,the circle rate of land in Vadodara is five times higher8230; Therefore,the compensations that have been given in this area could be on the higher side.

Dutta also said: The Special Land Acquisition Officers belonging to the state government are the awarding authorities in such land acquisitions because they are conversant with the local rates and conditions. DFCCIL is not the acquiring authority,it is only a facilitating agency.

When contacted,Vadodara District Magistrate Vijay Nehra said: The local administration was not involved in this land acquisition process. I only know that some of the farmers were not too happy about the price which they were offered and had submitted a meorandum to us.