Lucknow: FIR in Rs 1,200 crore fertiliser scam

LUCKNOW: Acting on the directions of Allahabad high court, CBI’s anti-corruption unit in Lucknow lodged an FIR against 20 persons, including eight state government officers, in connection with the Rs 1,200-crore fertiliser subsidy scam in the state from 1998 to 2000.
It is alleged that funds were transferred by distributors without actual supply of fertilisers and subsidy was claimed from the state government.Last month, Allahabad high court had said that the investigation was not proper and ordered that the case be probed by CBI.
Those named in the FIR include eight former government officers: district agriculture officer GC Katiyar, then agriculture directors Ratan Kumar Singh and Ishwaku Singh, joint directors Veerpal Singh and Aditya Narayan Singh, additional directors Rang Bahadur and Ganga Ram and accounts officer Abhay Singh.
CBI has also named owners of two firms Vindhyachal Minerals and Mining Pvt Ltd and Shanti Sagar Enterprises —Pradeep Kumar Agarwal, Madan Madhav, Subhash Chandra Gupta, Sarvesh Kumar Jain, Sharad Khera, Avinash Kumar Modi, and Chandrabhan Verma.
It has booked directors of ACL Minerals Pvt Ltd, Shanti Sagar Enterprises, Ujjawala Trading Company, Madan Madhav Fertilizers and Chemicals Pvt Ltd, Vindhyachal Minerals and Mining Pvt Ltd.