Daltonganj, Nov 11: Authorities in Jharkhand today claimed to have unearthed serious irregularities in the utilisation of bitumen worth around Rs 1.84 crore in Palamu district in which a retired junior engineer has been named an accused, according to official sources. In an FIR lodged by Binod Kumar Rana, executive engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD) here, he alleged that 960 tonnes of bitumen worth Rs 1.84 crore was sold in the open market by a retired junior engineer of the department Jaleshwar Prasad Singh in connivance with department employees and contractors between April 24, 1999 and march 2003.

Earlier, a seven-member departmental committee headed by assistant engineer Lalan Mochi had found evidence of bungling in utilisation of 2,600 tonnes of bitumen of which 960 tonnes went missing during the tenure of Singh.
The FIR said that Singh, while taking charge from his predecessor Balram Pandey, had received a stock of 2,600 tonnes of bitumen but did not furnish a utilisation certificate to the department. Later, 960 tonnes of bitumen was found missing from the stock and was alleged to have been sold in the open market.

Bureau Report