CBI anti-graft unit conducts inspection on NH stretch

KOCHI:The CBI anti-corruption unit in Kochi conducted an inspection on National Highway-544 from Edappally to Thrissur on Thursday following complaints about irregularities in road work on the stretch.
The CBI team led by ASP from Kochi carried out the inspection in the wake of complaints alleging corruption in road tarring work.

“It was a fact-finding inspection based on the complaints we received recently. We examined the tarring work on the stretch and also inspected the toll plaza at Paliyekkara. The complaints were mainly about the tarring work,” said a CBI officer.

The CBI will proceed with registration of FIR only after conducting a further probe. “A decision on whether to register an FIR will be taken after consulting experts. We have to get some documents from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) about the tarring work carried out on the stretch,” he said.
The NHAI officers in Kochi confirmed an inspection was conducted on the NH. The entire tarring work on the Thrissur-Edappally NH stretch was examined during the inspection that began in the afternoon.

“We cooperated with the CBI team and our officers accompanied them during the checking. Currently, there are no issues with regard to the tarring on the NH stretch from Thrissur to Edappally. We will cooperate with CBI probe,” said an NHAI officer. The officer said they have no information about the complaints regarding the quality of tarring work. “We are waiting for CBI’s response about the nature of complaint they had received about the tarring work,” the officer said.