New Delhi, July 5 In a massive action, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday carried out searches at over 42 locations in Uttar Pradesh in connection with a fresh case it registered in the alleged irregularities in the Gomti Riverfront project.
A CBI source related to the probe told , "The multiple agency teams are carrying out searches at over 42 places in Uttar Pradesh."
The source said the searches were being carried out after the CBI registered a fresh case to probe alleged irregularities in the project against 189 Uttar Pradesh government officers, including the then engineers, and others named as accused in the FIR.
The CBI teams, after registering the case, swooped in to raid the accused at 42 locations in 13 districts, including Lucknow, Agra, Ghaziabad, Noida, Bulandshahr, and Rae Bareli in the state and one place each in West Bengal and Rajasthan.
The source said that searches, which began early in the morning, were also underway at the premises of three chief engineers and six superintendent engineers of the project.
One of the accused named in the FIR is the French company Aquatique Show, the source said.
In the latest case, according to the CBI FIR several former chief engineers, superintending engineers, other engineers and public servants of the state irrigation department, private contractors and businessmen have been named as accused.
Out of 673 works, 12 works worth Rs 1,031 crore were investigated by the probing agency in its first FIR. This FIR concerns 661 works worth Rs 407 crore.
This is the second FIR that has been registered in connection with the case.
The Gomti Riverfront project was an ambitious project under the Akhilesh Yadav government.
The CBI had registered a case on November 30, 2017 which was earlier being probed by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
It has been alleged that the Rs 1,513 crore Gomti Riverfront development project witnessed widespread irregularities.
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