Chhattisgarh PDS scam accused makes U-turn, denies diary naming beneficiaries was recovered

The prime accused filed a petition in a Raipur court on Saturday that “no diary was recovered from him”. (Source: Express Archive)

The Chhattisgarh PDS scam case took a fresh turn after the prime accused Shiv Shankar Bhatt has denied that no “diary” was recovered from him by the police. Ever since the ACB raided the offices of Chhattisgarh Civil Supplies Corporation Limited in February, the police repeatedly claimed to have recovered several documents and diaries from Bhatt and other staff naming topmost government functionaries as beneficiaries of the scam. These diaries, allegedly naming ministers, senior officers and persons close to Chief Minister Raman Singh, were extensively reported in media.

Corporation’s former manager Bhatt, now in judicial custody, created a political storm when he filed a petition in a Raipur court on Saturday that “no diary was recovered from him”. His petition came days after Chief Minister Raman Singh told a local newspaper that no such diary ever existed and these forged diaries were circulated through a “conspiracy”.

Bhatt was also caught in a sting by a local newspaper naming top officers and ministers as the alleged beneficiaries. The Indian Express had earlier reported that similar papers were recovered by the ACB from Girish Sharma, PA of corporation’s former MD Anil Tuteja, having people with names similar to those close to the CM House as the alleged beneficiaries.

Alleging a conspiracy between the prime accused and the government, PCC Chief Bhupesh Baghel said: “The police repeatedly talked about these diaries and admitted to the names of top people in the last two months. But first Raman Singh denied these documents, and now Bhatt is speaking his language.”

Congress Spokesperson SN Trivedi said: “How can we trust this probe when Raman Singh obtains a character certificate from the prime accused.”

The PDS scam probe, which once hit the topmost establishment, has now halted at the junior most level. When the ACB had raided the corporation’s offices across the state in February, the police had claimed to have unearthed a PDS rice scam in which commission worth Rs 100 crore reached “people from top to bottom”. The corporation allowed rice millers to supply poor quality rice in lieu of the commission.

Trivedi alleged that the state police are trying to save the persons close to Chief Minister Raman Singh and demanded a probe by a High Court judge.

Source:: Indian Express