On February 20, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested the Joint Director of Delhi Jal Board, Naresh Singh, for allegedly siphoning off Rs 20 crores in a water bill scam. He was arrested after ACB questioned him for hours. Reports suggest that Singh received bribes worth Lakhs from the directors of Aurrum and Fresh Pay.
Correction: The name of Delhi Jal Board’s Joint Director is Naresh Singh and not Naresh Sharma as reported earlier.
— ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2023
In a statement, ACB said he allegedly did not reconcile the bill payments with the company, which was his duty as the board’s Deputy Director. In December 2022, an FIR was registered in the alleged e-kiosk water bill scam of Rs 20 crores. During the investigation, several employees of Aurrum and Fresh Pay were arrested.
Reports suggest that the three accused in the case, 56-year-old Raju Nair, 52-year-old Gopi Kumar Kedia and Dr Abhilash Vasikuttan Pillao, are senior officials at an IT company. They were awarded the contract for setting up automotive bill payment collection machines at DJB offices. ACB alleged that the company continued collecting the money until 2020 despite the contract ending in 2019. Though Nair is a resident of Moscow, Russia, he has an Indian Passport.
In a statement, ACB JCP Madhur Verma said that Singh received bribes from the directors of two accused companies, Arrum and Fresh Pay. The contract between DJB and the accused companies for extended for the first time in 2015. Since then, Singh allegedly helped the companies extend the contract to collect bill payments from e-kiosks until 2020. He said, “He allegedly kept silent over the reconciliation of water bills while getting the extension done for the Fresh Pay company.”
The investigation is underway, and the ACB is trying to establish if other government officials or bank employees are involved in the case.
