Contractor mafia not involved in Dubey’s murder: CBI report

Contractor mafia not involved in Dubey’s murder: CBI report

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/10407.html

Express News Service

Posted online: Saturday, August 12, 2006 at 0000 hrs

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 11:The CBI has reiterated before the Supreme Court that there is no invlovement of any contractor mafia in the murder of NHAI engineer Satyendra Kumar Dubey. Instead, investigations had established that Larsen and Toubro, which was the main contractor for the road works, had violated contract conditions in sub-letting the work, it said.

‘‘During the investigation of Satyendra Kumar Dubey’s murder case, involvement of any contractor/mafia was not found. Investigations named four accused — Mantu Kumar, Udai Kumar, Pinku Ravidas and Shravan Kumar, all residents of Katari village in Gaya, Bihar. They were arrested and the CBI also recovered Dubey’s personal belongings and the weapon used in the crime on the disclosure statements of the accused,’’ the status report filed by CBI in court said.The report has been filed in response to a PIL seeking an independent Supreme Court-monitored probe into the murder.‘‘Accused Shravan Kumar gave full and voluntary disclosure about the incident and he has been made an approver and given pardon by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Gaya,’’ the report said.The agency, however, claimed that it had found to be correct charges of sub-contracting as mentioned in the letter of Dubey to the PMO.

It said a case had been registered against S.K. Soni, former project director of NHAI, Koderma, and others on allegation of criminal misconduct for causing undue pecuniary advantage for the contractor, who sub-contracted the road construction work to unapproved and incompetent agencies against contract provisions.

Meanwhile, petitioner — Parivartan, an NGO — today opposed the report and said there was a total lack of progress in the probe and apparent lack of will to unearth the truth.

‘‘The CBI has deliberately let off the rickshaw-puller who was the sole independent eyewitness to the crime,’’ the NGO said in an affidavit. ‘‘CBI has concluded this was a robbery, when it has been clearly stated by the local police that robbery-related murders are almost nil in that region… The CBI has also ignored the statement by the SP that the evidences indicate very clearly that this was not a robbery,’’ it added.

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