The CBI has arrested the managing director of Indore-based Teerth Gopicon in connection with an alleged Rs 183 crore fraud to secure irrigation projects by submitting fake bank guarantees to Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Limited (MPJNL), officials said Tuesday.
The CBI arrested Mahesh Kumbhani, the managing director of the firm, and a private person, Gaurav Dhakad, for allegedly orchestrating the fraud to secure three irrigation projects in Chhatarpur, Sagar, and Dindori districts of Madhya Pradesh, for Rs 974 crore in 2023, the probe agency said.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had earlier transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has alleged that the company had submitted eight fake bank guarantees worth Rs 183.21 crore to support the contracts.
On the strength of these forged guarantees, it also received approximately Rs 85 crore as mobilisation advances from MPJN, it said.
The CBI's inquiry revealed the involvement of a Kolkata-based syndicate that was "systematically fabricating and circulating fake bank guarantees" to obtain government contracts across several states, the agency had said earlier.
The CBI found in its investigation that MPJNL had received fraudulent email responses bearing the forged domain of Punjab National Bank (PNB), which falsely confirmed the authenticity of the bank guarantees, it stated.
Relying on these false confirmations, MPJNL awarded three contracts worth Rs 974 crore to the company, it said.
In June, the CBI had arrested Govind Chandra Hansda, senior manager at PNB, and one Mohammed Firoz Khan from Kolkata.
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