New Delhi: The Chhattisgarh government has granted consent for a CBI investigation into the alleged theft of iron and scrap from the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), BJP MLA Rikesh Sen said, citing a September 25 notification.
The case stems from a May 26 raid on a trader’s premises in Bhilai, where police seized around 250 tonnes of iron materials, along with vehicles and machinery. The total seizure was valued at approximately Rs 3.22 crore, including scrap worth about Rs 90 lakh, police said.
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Twenty-one people, including a BJP functionary, BSP officials and officials of a private steel firm, have been arrested in connection with the case, according to police.
Sen, who represents Vaishali Nagar in Bhilai, said the notification extended the powers and jurisdiction of the Delhi Special Police Establishment throughout Chhattisgarh to investigate the case registered at Purani Bhilai police station under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The state’s consent clears a procedural requirement for a CBI investigation; Sen’s statement did not indicate whether the agency had formally taken over the case.
"It is a big development for the people of Bhilai. Those who have looted the Bhilai Steel Plant for 40 years and stolen national assets will now face a CBI probe," Sen said in a video statement on Monday night.
The legislator has repeatedly alleged that an organised network involving police personnel, bureaucrats and plant officials was behind the theft of iron from BSP, a flagship plant of state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). His allegation of theft spanning four decades is separate from the police account, which describes a network allegedly operating over several months.
According to police, the network operated both inside and outside the plant, concealing iron scrap in consignments of flue dust before storing and selling it illegally.
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Acting on a tip-off, police raided AK Traders in Bhilai’s Hathkhoj area on May 26. They recovered iron plates, beams, cuttings and other scrap loaded in trucks and heavy vehicles along with flue dust.
Trucks, an excavator, a crane and other machinery allegedly used to load and transport the stolen material were also seized.
Sen credited Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma for acting on the issue.
"I used to say that my efforts would not go in vain and the CBI would come. Amit Shah ji deserves the biggest credit for taking cognisance of the issue, while CM Vishnu Deo Sai and Deputy CM Vijay Sharma decided that those who looted national assets will have to face action," he said.
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