Investigation into multi-crore scam for construction of Shillong Nongstoin Tura road in preliminary stage: Police

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 22, 2024

The state police have started the investigation into the alleged multi-crore scam involving contractors and state engineers in the construction of Shillong- Nongstoin-Rongjeng- Tura road .

“We have registered the case. We are in a preliminary stage of investigation. That is what we can say now,” a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

Nine people including senior engineers of the state government and officials of two private companies based in Telangana and Haryana were named in an FIR lodged in this connection.

The police officer however said no arrest has been made so far. “We are going into further details of the case. We are going through the documents and collecting documents,” he said.

“Several lapses forced the government to lodge an FIR into the road project amounting to over Rs 2,300 crore,” a senior official of the Public Works Department said.

The road project connecting the state capital Shillong with Tura, via Nongstoin and Rongjeng, was approved in 2010 as part of the Special Road Development Programme-North East of the central government.

According to the official, the cost of the Rs 1303.83 crore initial contract was revised several times and it was enhanced to Rs 2366.77 crore. The original scheduled date of completion was 2014.

Among the nine accused named in the police complaint included officials of the two private companies and the then PWD chief engineer, executive engineer and others, the official said.