Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani (File) Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani (File) Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday suspended IAS officer V J Rajput for alleged irregularities and corruption committed during his tenure as commissioner of Junagadh Municipal Corporation (JMC). A departmental inquiry, as well as a police inquiry, have been initiated against the official, a release issued by the government stated. “IAS officer VJ Rajput has been suspended after we found certain shortcomings in the purchases that he made as a commissioner of JMC. There were issues related to some of the tenders. This was corroborated by an inquiry we conducted through another officer,” Chief Secretary J N Singh told The Indian Express. According to the release, the departmental inquiry will probe his alleged role in the tenders for Narsinh Mehta Lake beautification, purchase of dustbins and shortcomings works related to tree plantation drive. The police inquiry will probe corruption in cattle-impounding branch where false bills were allegedly generated by Rajput. The police will also probe if the officer had sold off new vehicles in auctions conducted during his tenure. Rajput, an IAS officer of the 2009 batch, was municipal commissioner of Junagadh from September 26, 2017, to April 8, 2018. Nilesh Dhulesia, chairman of the JMC standing committee, said that they had lodged complaints with state Urban Development Department over Rajput’s style of functioning. “He used to take decisions without consulting standing committee or general board of Junagadh Municipal Corporation and thus violated the provisions of Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act,” Dhulesia said. “In the project of planting trees in road dividers, Rajput authorised payment to contractors while overlooking contract conditions. He also tried to approve a tender for procuring dustbins at a much higher rate. He also indulged in irregularities in controlling animal nuisance in the city. He had tried to auction off vehicles of the JMC in an unauthorised manner and we had to go the spot personally and stop that auction. On top of all this, he had sought bribe from employees for clearing their promotion or regularising their services,” the chairman further said. Sources said that the tree plantation project was worth Rs 1.75 crore, while dustbins were to be procured at the cost of Rs 2.20 crore. Dhulesia alleged that Rajput had issued a tender for beautification of Narsinh Mehta Lake, a Rs 60 crore project, in a manner to benefit a select few. “He intended to award the contract of beautification to his chosen parties, and had thus tried to influence the tendering process. Eventually, we got that tender scrapped and a new tender was issued,” said Dhulesia. According to Dhulesia, the government had formed a committee to conduct a departmental inquiry against Rajput after they complained about him. S M F Bukhari, a retired IAS officer and special officer for departmental inquiry, had visited Junagadh also. Sources claimed that during Rajput’s tenure as Junagadh Municipal Commissioner, records of cattle impounding were fudged, and the number of impounded cattle was inflated. In a similar move in May 2017, Chief Minister Rupani had initiated action against two IAS officers — Arvind Agarwal and Manoj Agarwal — for alleged irregularities in two land deals of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC). Rupani had ordered for an advisory to be issued to Arvind Agarwal to be more careful in policy matters, while he ordered a departmental inquiry against Manoj Agarwal. For all the latest Ahmedabad News, download Indian Express App

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