Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
A government contractor, Anil Pandalik Wathore, has been charged with submitting fake certificates for work done at the Bhokar and Washim Industrial Estates to secure a tender for work at the Jalna Industrial Estate. The case was filed after a complaint was lodged by Balu Vithal Rautrai (40), deputy engineer at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), at the Vedantnagar Police Station. This action was taken on Wednesday.
In the year 2021-22, a tender was published for infrastructure work in Phase 3 of the Jalna Industrial Estate. Between March 16 and 31, 2022, tenders were received from four contractors. Since all four contractors were deemed eligible, the tenders were opened. Among them, Anil Wathore submitted a tender amounting to around Rs 3.49 crore, which was 18.21 per cent lower than the other contractors' bids, and thus, he was awarded the work. The duration of the work was from August 11, 2022, to May 10, 2023. Due to opposition from local farmers, the final payment estimate was submitted on February 22, 2024, at the contractor's request.
Fake certificate discovered
During the entire process, Wathore submitted a certificate claiming that he had completed work at the Akola Industrial Estate to secure the tender for the Jalna Industrial Estate. However, government contractor Atul Kailas More objected to this certificate. Following his complaint, MIDC officials conducted an inquiry, which revealed that Wathore's certificate was forged. Further investigation is on by PSI Suresh Gengaje.
Similar crime registered earlier
A similar case was filed a few days ago by the same department. In that case, a complaint was lodged by executive engineer Rameshchandra Giri, leading to a case being filed against Atul Kailas More and Swapnil Madhukar Mhaskey. It is being suggested that such incidents are coming to light due to competition among contractors and disputes over contracts.