GUWAHATI: Former chairman of Assam Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Guwahati (ABOCWWB), Gautam Baruwa, was arrested from a rented accommodation in New Delhi on February 24 last after having successfully evaded arrest for several months.
He is the prime accused in a Rs 121-crore scam of forgery in the Board. Assam Police has now shown evidence to claim that the accused is a criminal and has filed a 74-paged charge sheet, according to the latest report.
The 74-paged supplementary charge sheet vide Chargesheet No. 01/2020 dated 22.05.2020 was filed today (22-05-2020) in the Court of Special Judge, Assam as a second charge sheet in Vigilance PS case no. 09/2017 against Baruwa.
The Investigation Officer, Faruk Ahmed, carried out the investigation and submitted the second (supplementary) charge sheet.
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The government of Assam had granted Prosecution Sanction against the arrested accused. The investigating team claimed that they have completed the investigation of the case and submitted the charge sheet within the stipulated timeframe after the arrest of Gautam Baruwa from New Delhi.
Talking about the case, a source in Assam Police narrated that a case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged Tapan Sarma, IAS - the then Labour Commissioner cum Member Secretary of Assam Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, (ABOCWWB) about the forgery and large-scale misappropriation of funds amounting to Rs 121 crores.
The case was pending since the prime accused, Gautam Baruwa, was absconding and evading cooperating in the investigation. He was finally arrested by the police team from CM’s Special Vigilance Cell with the active coordination of Delhi Police Crime Branch from the busy streets of Safdarjang Enclave, New Delhi, on 24th February, 2020 and after thorough custodial interrogation he was forwarded to judicial custody.
Police sources also expressed that the charge sheet gives detailed evidence collected during investigation which establishes how Baruwa, the prime accused, while serving as the chairman of the said board, officiated over procurement of stationary and printed materials worth approximately Rs 121 crores during the three successive financial years of 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015- 16, which was unprecedented and excessive, in gross violation of prevailing rules and misappropriated the money collected as cess meant for the welfare of construction workers and how he, along with the co-accused office bearers of ABOCWWB, entered into a criminal conspiracy by abusing their official positions and committed cheating, forgery and misappropriation of public funds by gross violation of laid down government rules and procedures in tendering process, award of tenders for printing work at 4-5 times the prevalent market rates, with the intent of causing huge illegal profit of more than Rs 68 crores to the private contractor Priyangshu Bairagi, the co-accused in the crime.
The charge sheet has cited 37 witnesses and 174 documents as evidence to prove the case.