Court issues order for attaching ex-Laccfed chairman’s properties

A P Gangwar, Deputy Superintendent of Police of the special investigation bureau of the police co-operative cell, which is investigating the case, said the order was issued by the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate, which had earlier issued a proclamation in October, asking Katiyar to appear in court within 30 days.

The police will initiate the procedure of attachment of Katiyar's property at his native place in Hitkari Nagar locality in Kakadeo of Kanpur on Friday, Gangwar said. He said that under co-operative by-laws, Katiyar, as chairman, was responsible for all activities, including financial transactions, leading to an embezzlement of over Rs 23 crore in the year 2010-11.

Investigation has also shown his active involvement in siphoning government funds from LACCFED bank accounts in connivance with other officials. Besides, he was involved in payment of a kickback of Rs 5 crore to Badhshah Singh, former labour minister in the Mayawati government, for getting work, Gangwar said.

The police has, in all, arrested eight persons in the scam who are lodged in jail — ex-General Manager Pankaj Tripathi, chief engineer Govind Sharan Srivastava, superintending engineer Ajay Kumar Dohre, executive engineers DK Sahu and Sanjay Kumar Vaishya, Public Relation Officer Praveen Singh, accountant Anil Agrawal and former minister Badshah Singh. Former managing director BP Singh is absconding.

Katiyar, who enjoyed the status of minister of state as LACCFED chairman, is facing charges under IPC sections 409, 420, 467, 468 and 471. He was removed after the scam was detected and the board was abolished in February.

Katiyar was a close associate of former co-operative minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, who got him appointed as LACCFED chairman on May 3, 2010. On May 25, 2010, an order issued by the then chief secretary Atul Gupta turned LACCFED from a renovation/whitewash agency into a construction agency for one year. It also had raised its limit from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 5 crore, ignoring that LACCFED did not fulfil the requirements for working as a government construction agency.

Nine ministers in the previous BSP government, including Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Swami Prasad Maurya, are under the scanner for allegedly taking kickbacks from LACCFED officials in return for allotting it work from their departments.

Two of the former ministers — Rangnath Mishra and Chandradeo Ram Yadav — are absconding for one-and-half months.

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