Minister’s younger son remanded to police custody for seven days in MNREGA scam

Vadodara: The younger son of state minister of state for panchayat and agriculture, Kiran Khabad was remanded to seven days of police custody in connection with a second FIR registered by Dahod police in the ongoing MNREGA scam investigation.Kiran had recently secured bail along with his elder brother, Balwant Khabad, in the first case involving alleged irregularities worth Rs 71 crore under the rural employment scheme in Dahod district. However, immediately after his release from jail, Kiran was rearrested in a separate case linked to Lavariya village, where 21 MNREGA projects were found to exist only on paper.In Oct last year, a departmental inquiry was initiated based on a complaint by a resident of Lavariya. The probe revealed that several sanctioned works were either not executed or left incomplete, yet payments had been made to agencies as if the work had been completed.Dahod police produced Kiran before a local court on Friday and sought a 14-day remand for further interrogation. The court granted a seven-day police custody.Sources said police have issued notices to several individuals associated with the 32 agencies under scrutiny, including two reportedly linked to the Khabad brothers. These agencies allegedly supplied materials for MNREGA projects despite lacking official authorization.