Two reports handed to Crime Branch by civic agency provide different numbers,court told in the status report Two months after the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police registered two FIRs with respect to 212 ghost employees in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD),the investigators are perplexed over the gap of 13,809 substitute safai karmcharis. Handed over to the Crime Branch officials,two reports by the MCD have cited different number of substitute safai karmcharis working with them. The first report by the MCDs Additional Commissioner in March last year said there were about 43,489 substitute safai karmcharis. A subsequent zone-wise report,however,claimed there were only 29,680 such employees. Moreover,while the MCD said there were no substitute employees in Najafgarh zone,the company hired by the civic body for biometric attendance has stated there were 181 such employees in the said zone,according to the police. The investigators have thus sought a clarification from MCDs Vigilance department in this regard. Submitting a status report in the ghost employee case,Najmi Waziri,appearing for the police,informed the court on Wednesday that the physical verification exercise of substitute safai karmcharis was being carried out and the MCD has been asked to give clarification on the above points. The status report further said out of the 212 employees against whom FIRs were initially registered,only 13 remain to be physically verified and the credentials of the rest were ascertained after obtaining the data from the agency and conducting a door-to-door verification recently. Taking the report on record,the court directed the police to continue its investigation into the alleged ghost employees and the substitute safai karmcharies in the MCD. Five months after the MCD had admitted to the ghost employees scam,running due to a collusion between the employees unions affiliated to various political groups and some junior officers,two FIRs were lodged for cheating,forgery and criminal conspiracy in October last year. During the initial verification,212 employes were found non-existent and the FIRs were lodged against them. The court had earlier directed a high-level inquiry into the matter by a special team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch. While hearing a PIL by NGO Jagrook Welfare Society,the court had earlier slammed the civic agency noting that around Rs 202 crore had been paid to such missing employees till date.
