Gurugram: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has ordered an audit of the central funds received by the Integrated Cooperative Development Project (ICDP) after some officials were found to have allegedly been purchasing flats or agricultural land, or transferring cash to accounts of their relatives.
Praveen Attrey, media secretary to the CM, confirmed the audit of the fund utilisation — the first since the ICDP’s inception in Haryana in 1992.
Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapoor had announced on 2 February that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had busted a Rs 100 crore “scam” with the arrest of 10 senior officers and four private individuals.
“It has come to the notice of the government that no audit has been done of the funds received from the Centre and utilised in the state ever since the scheme was launched. Hence, the government has ordered an audit of the accounts from the date the scheme was launched in Haryana,” Attrey told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, the Congress in the state has been on the offensive since the DGP’s announcement of the bust. Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that the Congress will bring a no-confidence motion against the BJP-JJP government on the cooperative scam and other failures in the Budget session beginning 20 February.
“The Congress will flag various scams, including those in cooperatives, Ayushman, mining and FPO. We will also seek answers on issues like increasing unemployment, sending youth to war zones in Israel, giving priority to outsiders in Haryana’s recruitment, recruitment scams and Agnipath scheme,” Hooda told ThePrint Thursday.
In the alleged Rs 100 crore scam, assistant registrars and district registrars of cooperative societies colluded with an auditor to misappropriate funds for personal gain.
“These officials siphoned off funds available in the official accounts to purchase flats, land, and other assets, etc. To cover up their crimes, these officials tried to forge government documents and bank account details,” the DGP had said.
In all, nine FIRs have been registered by the ACB starting from 13 May, 2023, till 31 January, 2024.
A source in the cooperative department informed ThePrint that the ICDP was introduced in 1985-86 as a central sector scheme with the funds provided via the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). In Haryana, the scheme was launched in 1992.
Under the programme, an integrated area-based approach is adopted for the development of cooperatives in a selected district. It promotes economic activities through cooperatives in the sphere of agriculture, agro-based industries, cottage and household industries and agro-allied sectors like fishery, dairy and livestock, handloom, horticulture, and rural industries.
Another senior official from the department informed ThePrint that once the funds are received, a detailed project report (DPR) is prepared, listing the details of the projects to be taken up and the amount of funds to be released.
Once the DPR is approved by the Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS), this is sent to the State Level Committee headed by a senior IAS officer for approval, after which the money is released to the cooperative societies or for works taken up, monitored by nodal officers at district and state level.
“It is here that some district registrars, assistant registrars, and other officials misappropriated the government funds. In November 2022, the state ordered a vigilance inquiry after complaints and, since then, new revelations are coming out during the ACB investigation,” said the official.
He said that Sumit Agarwal, an accountant in the ICDP at Rewari, was dismissed summarily and recommendations were also made to dismiss Anu Koshish and Yogender Agarwal, general managers (GMs) in the ICDP, as the Governor alone can dismiss gazetted officers.
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The money trail
According to the FIR No. 21 registered by the ACB, Gurugram Police Station, Anu Koshish allegedly transferred money from the ICDP bank accounts to certain firms against fake bills and then got a bribe of Rs 55.29 lakh transferred to the accounts of her two sisters and mother.
Koshish, her mother and sisters, Stalinjit Singh, the owner of several firms involved in the alleged scam, and Sumit Agarwal, among others, were slapped with charges under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).
An FIR registered 26 May, 2023, for Sections 120-B, 409, 420 of the IPC and the PCA reveals that Rs 43.08 lakh was debited from the ICDP Central Cooperative Bank account on 20 December, 2018, which was transferred to SRK Apartments, Zirakpur.
Inquiries from the SRK Apartments, a developer, revealed that the money was allegedly transferred to the account for Flat 1607, Block E, in the name of Yogendra Agarwal. Accountant Sumit Agarwal and development officer Nitin Sharma were also posted in Rewari at this time.
Another FIR lodged on the same date against the same officials mentions Rs 45.50 lakh paid to SRK Apartments on 10 October, 2019, for Flat 1605 in the name of Nitin Sharma and Sumit Agarwal’s wife Rachna.
ICDP Rewari General Manager Anu Koshish, her successor Yogendra Agarwal, assistant registrar, cooperative societies, Ram Kumar are among the 17 people named as accused in a third FIR registered on 3 July, 2023.
This FIR mentions that Rs 2 crore each were debited from the Central Cooperative Bank account of ICDP, Rewari, on 1 and 6 June, 2022 and then credited to a fresh SBI account. Subsequently, on 24 August, Rs 50 lakh was allegedly transferred to Nitin Sharma via a cheque signed by Anu Koshish, though she was transferred on 6 June.
Probe also revealed that Rs 39.66 lakh and Rs 8.34 lakh were allegedly transferred to Mohan Lal and Mani Ram of Sirsa to pay for more than 8 acres of agricultural land purchased from them by Anu Koshish.
Another Rs 10 lakh was transferred to Bhagat Singh, a resident of Nathusari who acted as a middleman, into his firm Laybay India Pvt Ltd’s account. Bhagat Singh withdrew this money and paid in cash to Mohan Lal, the FIR says.
As per the sale deed registered for this land, Anu Koshish purchased it for Rs 79.32 lakh. Mohan Lal told the ACB that the actual sale value was Rs 1.22 crore as Koshish paid an additional Rs 42.68 lakh in cash.
Among various bank transactions is one for Rs 20 lakh that was allegedly transferred to the account of Vikas Punia, a resident of Kohli village of Hisar, on 17 November, which he forwarded to Ram Kumar, assistant registrar, through two cheques of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 18 lakh on 23 November that year.
Punia said that Kumar had met him through an acquaintance, Krishan Kumar, and requested these money transfers. Of this amount of Rs 20 lakh, Ram Kumar transferred Rs 13 lakh to the bank account of Savitri Devi, a resident of Jhansa village of Kurukshetra.
She told the ACB that Kumar paid this money for the purchase of her residential plot in Vardhman Township, Kurukshetra.
Besides these, another FIR lodged on 2 February this year pertains to the alleged siphoning off of Rs 11.50 lakh by Anu Koshish and district registrar Rohit Gupta. Three more FIRs have details about the alleged bungling of nearly Rs 38 lakh by ICDP officials Krishan Beniwal, Balwinder Singh, Ram Kumar and Jitender Kaushik.
(Edited by Tony Rai)