Vigilance nabs 3 contractors in LED street light scam

Debabrata.Mohapatra

Bhubaneswar: Odisha vigilance on Thursday arrested three contractors for allegedly siphoning off nearly Rs 3 crore of govt funds meant for LED street light installations in gram panchayats across Keonjhar, Nayagarh and Jajpur districts between 2021 and 2023.

The accused were identified as Girija Sankar Dash of Mayurbhanj, Dharanidhar Sahoo of Jajpur, and Bibhuti Ranjan Biswal of Bhubaneswar.“We found clear evidence of misappropriation against the three men, who are the prime accused. Three cases have been registered under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and IPC sections, since the offence predates the rollout of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on July 1, 2024,” a vigilance official said.Investigators said the trio were awarded contracts in the three districts. “Preliminary estimates suggest misappropriation of about Rs 3 crore. Around 1,000 clusters — each comprising 10 LED lights — were sanctioned under the 5th state finance commission devolution grants during 2021–23,” the vigilance officer said.All these clusters are being technically examined by the vigilance experts to establish shortfalls and misappropriation.

Connected files are being seized to scrutinize the disbursal mechanism and the possible connivance of govt servants.At least 24 teams comprising 81 officers, including additional SPs, DSPs and inspectors, have been deployed to probe the scam. Preliminary field inquiries revealed that the turnkey project mandated installation of LED lighting systems in one village of each panchayat, along with an annual maintenance contract. However, vigilance sleuths found massive irregularities — ranging from violation of tender guidelines to non-installation of critical components such as energy meters, cables, clamps and photo switch timers.“Bills were raised showing these items as installed, but our checks revealed otherwise. This points to systematic misappropriation of government funds by the executants,” the vigilance officer said.