Sessions court upholds minister’s sons’ bail

Vadodara: The Dahod district and sessions court turned down the applications seeking the cancellation of bail granted to Balwant and Kiran Khabad, the sons of Gujarat minister of state for panchayats Bachu Khabad in connection with the first offence registered, for the alleged Rs 71 crore scam in the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA) scheme in Dahod. Both are, however, still in judicial custody for other offences registered against them later. The Khabad brothers were arrested after their names cropped up in the Rs 71 crore scam, for which an offence was registered in April. They later got bail from a magisterial court in Dahod. Dahod police registered two more offences for NREGA scams in different villages and re-arrested Balwant and Kiran. They were taken into police custody for these offences and then sent to judicial custody. The brothers are accused of supplying material for NREGA works even when their agencies did not qualify as the lowest bidder. Material was supplied by agencies linked to the two brothers and others in three villages of Devgadhbaria and Dhanpur talukas in Dahod district. So far, 12 people have been arrested for the scam. They include eight officials and four private persons, including the Khabad brothers.