CBI searches 16 sites in graft case flagged by J&K ex-governor

NEW DELHI: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting searches at 16 locations across India over an alleged graft flagged by former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik in awarding contract for Rs 2,200-crore civil work for the Kiru Hydro Power Project in Kishtwar in 2019.
Officials on Wednesday said the search operations are spread across two places in Srinagar, five in Jammu, five in Delhi, three in Mumbai and one in Patna at the premises of middlemen and associates involved in the project.
In its three-month probe, the CBI has detected some financial transactions between the accused public servants, including the then chaiman of the Chenab Valley Power Projects (P) Ltd Navin Kumar Chaudhary and middlemen, leading to fresh round of searches, officials said.
Malik, who was the governor of J&K between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019, had claimed he was offered a Rs 300-crore bribe for clearing two files. In its FIR pertaining to the alleged malpractices in awarding contract for civil works package of Kiru hydroelectric power project registered in April, CBI had said guidelines related to e-tendering were not followed. agencies