The Delhi government’s anti-corruption branch on Thursday arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s nephew Vinay Kumar Bansal in connection with an alleged scam in the Public Works Department, The Indian Express reported. Vinay Kumar Bansal is the son of Kejriwal’s late brother-in-law Surender Kumar Bansal, and is accused of submitting fake bills to claim money for construction work.
In May 2017, the anti-corruption unit registered three separate first information reports in the case on the basis of a complaint that whistle-blower Rahul Sharma had filed. Sharma alleged irregularities in the grant of contracts for roads and sewer lines in Delhi in 2015-’16, and accused Surender Kumar Bansal’s company of sending “false and fabricated” bills worth Rs 6 crore to the department for works that were not completed.
Special Commissioner of Police Arvind Deep, who heads the anti-corruption unit, confirmed Bansal’s arrest. “He was a partner at the firm along with his father,” Deep told the Hindustan Times. “In the PWD scam case, their company had submitted bills for purchasing materials for a construction work. Our investigation revealed there are no such firms. The bills were fake. He was arrested today.”
The Aam Aadmi Party claimed Bansal’s arrest was an act of political vendetta, News 18 reported. “After having failed to find anything against Arvind Kejriwal, his MLAs and his ministers, Modi government stoops low to target Kejriwal’s relatives,” the party said in a statement. “Modi government has got Arvind Kejriwal investigated by all agencies. They got Kejriwal raided by the CBI and the Delhi Police, but did not get any evidence of any wrongdoing.”
The anti-corruption bureau falls under the Delhi government’s vigilance department, but its senior officers report to the lieutenant governor of Delhi.
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