The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday raided a national teachers institute in Madhya Pradesh's capital city Bhopal. CBI Spokesperson R K Gaur told International Business Times, India, that the raid was in connection with financial irregularities to the tune of Rs. 34 crore.
"The CBI raided the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) on Friday in connection with irregularities in the construction of a building to the tune of Rs. 34 crore. This was during the tenure of Vijay Kumar Agarwal who was director between 2009 and 2014," Gaur said. However, there was no word on when and if Agarwal would be detained, arrested or even questioned.
The action apparently stemmed from a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the NGO Jaago Bhaarat with the Jabalpur High Court, in Madhya Pradesh. Jaago Bhaarat member Sharat Singh Kumare told IBTimes India that the irregularities could run upto Rs. 100-150 crore, and were not only in construction, but in software purchase, appointments and promotions as well.
"The tenure of Agarwal was marked with these irregularities. The financial irregularities in just software purchase ran upto Rs. 20 crore," he claimed.
Kumare told IBTimes India that they had initially approached the Central Vigilance Commission and several other central agencies with the plea to prove the irregularities under Agarwal's tenure. "However, when nothing came of it, we decided to approach the Jabalpur HC in 2015 with a PIL. The HC then instructed us to approach the CVC again, and take things from there," he said.
Kumare also said he had expected that Agarwal was a Congress-appointee, and would be investigated when the Narendra Modi-headed NDA government came to power in 2014. Instead he was appointed as the head of the department of chemistry at the Awadhesh Pratap Singh University in Rewa, also in MP, in August that year. He is said to be in the same post as of now.
