The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : 4 KSRTC officials suspended for battery cable scam

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Friday, Jun 06, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

4 KSRTC officials suspended for battery cable scam

Staff Reporter

The scam caused a loss of over Rs. 6 lakh to the corporation
The vigilance wing has launched an investigation into the scam

BANGALORE: Four senior officials from the Chikmagalur division of the KSRTC have been suspended following a reported scam in the purchase of battery cables and causing a loss of over Rs. 6 lakh to the corporation.

Sources in the corporation told The Hindu that Managing Director A.P. Joshi passed the orders, suspending Divisional Controller (head of the division) Adish, Divisional Mechanical Engineer Yashvanth Kumar, Accounts Officer Kottari and Stores Officer Chandramouli.

The scam revolved around purchase of more than 3,500 metres of battery cable. While the product was available at Rs. 114 in the market, it was purchased by the Chikmagalur Division at Rs. 291 a metre, the sources said.

Purchase of new battery cable was necessitated after KSRTC decided to make its buses fire-retardant. The decision was taken after a few buses of the corporation, which were parked inside the depots in Bangalore, caught fire without anyone’s intervention. The corporation then decided to have GI sheets for roofs instead of AVS sheets for all its new buses and keep the battery cut-off switches in working condition to avoid any accidental ignition.

It was in this background, the divisional-level officials placed orders for the purchase of battery cables. Unofficial sources, however, claim that the loss suffered by KSRTC amounts to more than Rs. 20 lakh in Chikmagalur alone. These sources also mentioned that the stores officer in Chikmagalur was being made a scapegoat by the higher-level officials in the scam. There were also reports of a similar scam from KSRTC’s Tumkur division.

The corporation’s security and vigilance wing has already launched an investigation into the scam and based on initial reports, the four officials have been suspended, the source said.

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