New Delhi: The CBI has conducted searches at the residence Suryalakshmi Cotton Mills Ltd (SCML) Chairman LN Agarwal and Managing Director Paritosh Agarwal in connection with a case where the two had allegedly conspired with officials of the Western Coalfield Limited to siphon off more than 1.3 lakh metric tonnes of coal meant for use in one of Suryalakshmi's plants.
Officials here said that CBI sleuths also raided the offices of Suryalakshmi Cotton Mills in Nagpur and Secunderabad in addition to conducting searches at the plant premises of SCML at Ramtek, Nagpur. According to the CBI, the searches had resulted in the recovery of incriminating documents, which are now being analysed.
The central probe agency had last week booked SCML and its officials in the case, where large amounts of coal supplied by Western Coalfield Limited (WCL) was misappropriated and sold off at premium instead of using it for the declared purpose of fuelling one of the plants.
While officials have maintained that the proceeds from these sales, which were made by cheating WCL, run into crores of rupees, the agency has also alleged that officials of SCML had conspired with WCL officials to further purchase more than 50,000 tonnes of coal fraudulently and then sell it at premium prices in the open market.
According to the agency's FIR in the case, SCML had signed an agreement in August 2014, which allowed for WCL to supply 1,13,000 MTs of coal per annum to the company at a notified rate for its Denim Plant at Ramtek. However, an Internal Departmental Committee comprising of officials from WCL had in April 2016 realised that SCML's Ramtek plant was being underutilised and the amount of coal shown as used was adding up to be in excess of what the plant required at that operational capacity.
In October the same year, another WCL committee confirmed the findings of the previous committee and concluded that SCML was unable to account for the excess coal being used. The committee eventually found that 1,13,115 MTs of coal was supplied to SCML in excess of their requirement since 2014 and that this amount was sold in the open market.
The CBI has also alleged that after the first WCL committee's finding, SCML had again signed an agreement with WCL on April 30, 2016, amending the terms of their earlier contract to facilitate the use of 100 per cent indigenous coal. While SCML was supposed to surrender the 56,500 MTs of imported coal, the agency has alleged that the company showed a "false surrender" and participated in the WCL auction to purchase 59,200 MTs of coal fraudulently.