HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches on former chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh M Gopal Reddy and promoters of Hyderabad-based GVPR Engineers Limited and Max Mantena Micro JV Hyderabad in connection with Rs 3,000 crore e-tendering scam in MP.
Searches were conducted at multiple locations in Hyderabad and also in Bhopal and Bengaluru. Sources in ED said the sleuths searched the residence of Gopal Reddy in Banjara Hills here. The ED also searched the offices of promoter of GVPR Engineers, Gandluru Veera Sekhar Reddy, in Jubilee Hills.
The ED had booked a Prevention of Money Laundering Act case based on an FIR filed by the economic offences wing of Madhya Pradesh. The FIR was first lodged in 2019.
During investigations, it was found that several tenders of various departments in MP like water resources, Jal Nigam, PWD, public health engineering and road development were tampered between January and March 2018. The computer emergency response team of Delhi had even confirmed the tampering.
It all began when MP State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (MPSEDC) was appointed as the nodal agency for e-procurement portal in 2012 by government of Madhya Pradesh. In the e-tendering project, MPSEDC offered a platform to various government departments for floating tenders.
“On April 11, 2018, at the time of opening of three tenders floated by Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Maryadit, the computer displayed a message that the contents of the document had been modified. This has led to the busting of the scam,” the ED said.
During the probe, it was found that GVPR Engineers and other companies changed the bid price in the three tenders of Jal Nigam Maryadit worth Rs 1,769 crore.
The ED had also named several other firms based in Bhopal, Bengaluru and Mumbai as accused in the case.