Vadodara: An employee of Container Corporation of India (CCI) and an owner of a ginning mill were booked for allegedly siphoning a stock of cotton bales worth Rs 1.5 crore.
The public sector undertaking (PSU) had suspended accused Rameshkumar Sharma, who was in-charge of its centres at Kalediya and Naswadi in Chhota Udepur district and Palej in Bharuch district, in April as the cotton he had brought was of inferior quality. After Sharmas’ suspension, CCI formed a committee to audit the stock and records of the three centres. The auditing done by the committee unearthed the scam engineered by Sharma. A general manager of CCI then approached police with the complaint on June 22.
The committee had found that 697 cotton bales were missing from its Kalediya centre. When the committee questioned owners of Akshar Fibre Industry that had received raw cotton from Kalediya centre for processing, they informed that they had 350 quintal of raw cotton. However, the records of the centre showed that the entire stock sent was processed and the cotton bales have been received.
Police said that of the 350 quintal, CCI could have received 85 more bales thus 612 bales were still less. Also 1,600 quintal of raw cotton which should have been there according to records was also not found. Sankheda police station official said that Sharma along with the owner of Akshar Fibre Industry siphoned the stock of raw cottong and cotton bales worth Rs 1.5 crore.
Sharma has a house in Vadodara city where they checked for him, but it was locked. “The accused may have fled to his native in Bhatinda. We will send a team there to nab him,” police said.