Scam-tainted officer gets Nabanna posting

KOLKATA: Godala Kiran Kumar, who was arrested while serving as DM of Malda for his alleged involvement in a scam at Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA), joined Nabanna as a joint secretary in agriculture department on Tuesday. Kumar, as the CEO of the SJDA, had allegedly siphoned off funds in November 2013.
Interestingly, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the SJDA scam of Rs 200 crore had written to the Bengal government’s chief secretary Sanjay Mitra to deduct salary of Kiran Kumar for his alleged involvement in the scam.Bengal government is yet to send any communication to ED in this regard. Moreover, the ED officials had asked from Bengal government details of Kumar’s assets so that they can seize the same. But, Nabanna officials are yet to reply. The ED officials on money trail revealed that for projects like electric crematoriums at Malbazar, Maynaguri and Bagdogra, money was paid before completion of the projects. In eight FIRs, Kumar was named, of which four were lodged by Sharad Dwivedi, who took charge as CEO of SJDA after Kumar. The remaining cases were lodged by an engineer of SJDA.
An ED official said they expect that CID should submit the chargesheet soon. But for filing chargesheet, the CID needs sanction from Centre’s department of personnel and training.
Kiran Kumar, a 2005 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh, was earlier not given any posting as he was on compulsory leave. But, he was asked to join as joint secretary recently, a senior official at Nabanna said, adding that the probe against him will continue. On being asked about the reason behind his recent posting, an official revealed that the Telengana government was interested in him and hence the state took the decision.
Soon after Kiran Kumar’s arrest, he was granted bail and the then police commissioner of Siliguri, K Jayraman, was put on compulsory waiting as he did not take approval from Nabanna officials before the arrest. The scam came to light after Gautam Deb, North Bengal development minister, became the SJDA chairman in March 2013.