Court rejects anticipatory bail pleas of four accused

Vadodara: A sessions court in Panchmahal rejected the anticipatory bail plea of four government officials in connection with the offence of missing development works registered at the Kakanpur police station. The offence was registered after it had come to light that civic works were shown completed on paper in the Nadisar village of Godhra taluka. Four accused in the case, including additional assistant engineers Chandrakant Suthar and Arvindkumar Dhinga as well as talati-cum-mantris Bhupendra Baria and Amrut Machhar, had applied for anticipatory bail. They were named in the offence registered on April 11. While rejecting the plea, in-charge principal district and sessions judge K R Rabari observed that the case was serious in nature. He also noted that the grants for development schemes were given for the welfare of people and could not be misappropriated in this manner. The complainant in the case Godhra taluka development officer (TDO) Dharmishtha Gavit alleged that works were conducted only in records and payments amounting to Rs 48,19,661 were made. The works were conducted between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2020 in the Nadisar village.The district development officer (DDO) had ordered a probe in the works after a representation by the deputy speaker of the Gujarat assembly, Jetha Ahir. Investigations regarding 33 works done with the 14th and 15th finance commission grants revealed that 19 of these works were never executed and payments were made. The remaining works that were on site were in a bad shape and seemed very old. There were no signage to ascertain the scheme under which the works were done and other details.
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