Separate teams of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out raids at 42 places in different cities of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, and some places in West Bengal and Rajasthan, in connection with the multi-crore rupees Gomti Riverfront development project rip off during the previous Samajwadi Party regime.
Well-placed sources said that besides Lucknow, the raids were conducted in Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Etawah, Agra and other places in Uttar Pradesh.
Officials claimed to have recovered incriminating documents, bank transactions and other valuables in large quantities in the search operations so far. They will also check the bank lockers of the accused to collect more evidence. According to official sources, the search operation was carried out in the residential premises (3/41, Ruchi Khand-1, Sharda Nagar, Lucknow) of Shiv Mangal Yadav, the then superintending engineer, VI/XII Circle, Irrigation department, Lucknow; at residential premises of Roop Singh Yadav, the then superintendent engineer/executive engineer, VII/XII Circle, Irrigation department, Lucknow, situated at 505, Shivalik Apartment, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad, along with Plot No. 409 E, NRI City, Greater Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar; residential premises of Siddh Narayan Sharma @ SN Sharma, the then chief engineer of Sharda Sahayak, Irrigation department, Lucknow, situated at A-1102, Sun Bridge Apartment, Vaishali, Sector-5, Ghaziabad; and residential premises of Akhil Raman, the then superintendent engineer, VII Circle, Irrigation department, Lucknow, situated at H No. 1/130, Vipul Khand-1, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.
Other places were residential premises of Om Verma, the then chief engineer of V Circle, Bareilly. Irrigation department, Bareilly, situated at 11/426, Sector-11, Vikas Nagar, Lucknow; residential premises of Kazim Ali, the then chief engineer of Sharda Sahayak, Irrigation department, Lucknow situated at Flat No. 509, The Castle', Near FM Tower, Anoop Shahar Road, Aligarh; residential premises of Jeevan Ram Yadav, the then superintendent engineer of V Circle Bareilly, Irrigation department, Bareilly, situated at H No. 11/90, Indira Nagar, Lucknow; residential premises of Surendra Kumar Pal, the then superintendent engineer, Sitapur Circle, Irrigation department, Sitapur, situated at A-137, South City, Rae Bareli Road; residential premises of Kamleshwar Singh, the then superintendent engineer, VII Circle, Irrigation department, Lucknow, situated at 14, New Vikas Colony, Sector-7, Vikas Nagar, Lucknow; residential/official premises of Mohd Asif Khan, proprietor, M/s Tarai Construction situated at G-201, Shal Apartment, Mahanagar, Lucknow; residential/official premises of Mohan Gupta, director M/s HiTech Competent Builders Pvt. Ltd., situated at G-17, Phase-1, Industrial Area, Bhiwadi, Alwar (Rajasthan); residential/official premises of Angesh Kumar Singh, managing director of M/s Angraj Civil Projects Pvt. Ltd., situated at C-36, near Jalalpur Crossing, Rajajipuram, Lucknow; residential/official premises of Satyendra Tyagi, proprietor of M/s Green Décor, situated at 572, Sector-29, Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar; residential/official premises of Vikram Agarwal, proprietor of M/s AVS Enterprises, Shivpuri Colony, opposite Baba Hospital, Chhoti Nahariya, Dewa Road, Chinhat, Lucknow; and at E 5&6, CID Colony, Gole Market, Mahanagar, Lucknow, residential/official premises of Akhilesh Kumar Singh, proprietor of M/s Rishu Construction Anmol Associates Joint Venture situated at D-1215, before Post Office, Indira Nagar, Lucknow, along with Mohalla Ganeshpuram, Rapti Nagar, Shahpur police station, Gorakhpur, and at 3/522, Vishal Khand, near City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow and residential/official premises of Nitin Gupta, partner of M/s Annapurna Trading Company, 94, Purani Vijay Nagar Colony, Agra.
Earlier, on the recommendation of the Yogi Adityanath government, the Anti-Corruption Wing of CBI (Lucknow) registered a case against 189 persons. Among the accused, 173 were private individuals while others were government officials, including three chief engineers and six assistant engineers who worked closely in the project. Sources said that the CBI also named a French company, Aquatique Show, in the FIR.
The investigating agency alleged that the accused UP government officials signed an agreement with the French company for a musical fountain show at the Gomti Riverfront worth 55.95 lakh Euros sans due permission. Out of 673 works, 12 works worth Rs 1,031 crore were probed by the CBI sleuths in its first FIR. This FIR veered around 661 works worth Rs 407 crore. The CBI had earlier registered a case on November 30, 2017 which was earlier being probed by the UP Police. The CBI is probing the alleged irregularities in the Rs 1,400 crore Gomti Riverfront development project, which was launched by the previous Akhilesh Yadav government in 2015.