NAGPUR: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has suspended one more auditor in the Bogus Contracts Scam. Departmental enquiry (DE) is likely to commence against eight more officials and employees.
Municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B suspended Shobha Gandre on Friday. The count of suspended employees has now increased to seven in the scam. Gandre became the fourth from accounts and finance department to face suspension. Earlier, an accounts officer and two auditors were suspended.
The other three suspended employees were from general administration department (GAD), health (medical) department and projects department.
An NMC official told TOI that Gandre was among eight officials and employees who were served show-cause notice after the civic chief accepted the recommendations of inquiry report submitted by the committee headed by additional municipal commissioner Deepak Kumar Meena. “Gandre was found to have cleared payment of bogus contracts prepared by main accused — contractor Padmakar ‘Kolba’ Sakode. Therefore, Gandre has been suspended,” he said.
Gandre was working as an assistant superintendent in NMC’s Nehru Nagar zone.
TOI was the first to report about the scam on December 14, 2021.
The NMC official also said approval has been given to begin DE against the other seven officials and employees — former chief medical officer Dr Sanjay Chilkar who lodged police complaint in the case, chief medical officer Dr Narendra Bahirwar, retired deputy commissioner Dr Pradeep Dasarwar, clerks Suresh Shivankar, Sunita Shahu, Sunita Patil and former chief accounts and finance officer Hemant Thakre. The number of officials and employees facing DE swelled to 19.
The action recommended by the committee headed by ruling party leader Avinash Thakre is pending. It will be taken after approval of minutes of the meeting of general body.
