Former Tripura CS Yash Pal Singh arrested from UP in multi-crore PWD scam

Former Tripura Chief Secretary Yash Pal Singh has been arrested on Monday in connection with a multi-crore PWD scam from Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The arrest in a joint operation by the police of the two States, said Acting Tripura Director General of Police, Rajiv Singh.

Tripura Police Chief has said that Singh would be produced in a court in Uttar Pradesh for getting his transit remand and with the permission of the court, he would be brought to Agartala for further legal formalities.

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Singh was the state Principal Secretary (PWD) during 2008-09. The Tripura Police Crime Branch has been looking for him in connection with a corruption case regarding the implementation of projects worth Rs 638 crore.

The Vigilance Wing of Tripura government had on October 13 last year, filed an FIR against veteran CPI-M leader and former PWD and Finance Minister Badal Choudhury, former Chief Secretary Yash Pal Singh and former PWD Chief Engineer Sunil Bhowmik. However, Choudhury and Bhowmik have been released on bail.

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The case has caused an uproar in state politics in the past four months with Law and Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath stating that the Public Works Department (PWD) under the previous Left Front government in 2008-09 had clubbed together 13 projects which includes five bridges, five buildings, and three road projects -- being implemented at a cost of Rs 638 crore on a cost-plus norms. 

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Nath said that Rs 164 crore had been siphoned off, terming it the "biggest scam in the history of Tripura", while the opposition led by CPM and Congress has called it a conspiracy by the ruling government.

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(Image credit - PTI)