New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned former Manipur CM and Congress leader Ibobi Singh in connection with the alleged Rs 332-crore Manipur Development Society scam, ThePrint has learnt.
The move comes at a time when the BJP is struggling to retain power in Manipur, after nine ruling coalition members, including four ministers, resigned last week.
According to sources in the CBI, Ibobi will be questioned in Imphal Wednesday along with the four retired IAS officers, also named in the same case.
According to the CBI, Singh, as the chairman of Manipur Development Society from 30 June 2009 to 6 July 2017, in conspiracy with others, misappropriated government funds to the tune of Rs 332 crore out of the total amount of Rs 518 crore.
The agency had registered a case against Singh and the IAS officers — the then chairman of MDS, Y. Ningthem Singh, former project director D.S. Poonia, P.C. Lawmuknga, and O. Nabakishore Singh — in November last year on the complaint of the BJP-led Manipur government, for alleged misappropriation of public funds.
The case against Singh was registered a day before he was to sit in a protest against “non-disclosure” of the contents of Naga Peace Accord.
The Congress had announced that Singh would be participating in a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to protest against the “non-disclosure” of the contents of the Naga Peace Accord under discussion between the government and other stakeholders, and the re-introduction of Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. He was booked soon after.
Singh, who has held the post of Manipur chief minister for 15 years, is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the state.
The case against Ibobi Singh and others
According to the CBI’s FIR, Singh, while working as chairman of the Manipur Development Society, entered into a conspiracy along with other “senior officials” and misappropriated government funds, which were entrusted to them for development work.
The FIR also names MDS Administrative Officer S. Ranjit Singh and others on the request of the Manipur government and further notification from the Government of India.
“It was a clear case of misappropriation of funds by someone in power. All that money which was sanctioned for developmental work was siphoned off for personal benefits. We have established the trail,” a CBI officer said.
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Raids and recoveries
On 22 November, the CBI conducted raids on the premises of Ibobi Singh and a few IAS officers and claimed to have recovered a total of Rs 15.47 lakh cash and also Rs 36.49 lakh in demonetised currency.
Of the total amount, Rs 11.47 lakh cash and Rs 26.49 lakh in demonetised currency were seized from the residence of Ibobi Singh alone, said the CBI.
The CBI also claimed to have found that Singh and the accused IAS officers possess several properties, luxury cars and expensive branded items that could have been illegally purchased using public money.
Cars, plots owned by accused under scanner
During the raids, apart from cash and demonetised currency, the CBI also seized documents related to ownership of various properties, including plots, houses and apartments belonging to Singh and his family members, along with details of a series of bank accounts.
Expensive branded items and eight luxury cars, including an Audi, a Mitsubishi, a Honda, a Hyundai and a Toyota Fortuner, were found to be in possession of the accused, the CBI claimed.
During the raids, Rs 10 lakh in demonetised currency was seized from the premises of Y. Ningthem Singh, who according to the CBI owns two sets of palatial properties in Imphal, approximately measuring 3,500 square yards and complete with a garden and a swimming pool.
The agency also found that D.S. Poonia owns one apartment in a Uniworld City project, one residential plot in Noida, two shops in Dwarka, and one flat in Saket, and has seven bank accounts.
From the house of P.C. Lawnmkunga, the CBI seized Rs 4 lakh cash.
The investigation also revealed that O. Nabakishore owns a four-storey building spread over 7,000 square feet. He also has two houses, nine bank accounts, a flat in Ghaziabad, a flat in Gurugram, a two-storey under-construction building in Manipur, and a Hyundai dealership in Imphal in the name of his wife and son, the CBI claimed.
Ranjeet Singh, whose office and residence were raided too, owns a double-storey house in Aizawl and 2 acres of agricultural land near Imphal in his wife’s name, the CBI claimed.
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BJP’S GAME PLAN TO GET ITS POWER IN MANIPUR.CBI IS A TOOL TO HARRAS SOMEONE WHO OPPOSE THE GOVT. AND MODI !!!