PWD scam: Whistleblower who filed case against Arvind Kejriwal's relative claims threat to his life and family, seeks security

Whistleblower Rahul Sharma, who filed a case of corruption against a close relative of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday filed a case in the Delhi High Court seeking police protection, claiming threat to his life and his family. He also alleged the Delhi police was callous in dealing with his application for security. “Soon after I filed the case of fraud against Surendra Bansal, the brother in law of Arvind Kejriwal, I received a number of threat calls asking me to withdraw the case. I informed the deputy commissioner of police of Economic Offences Wing, but received no security. On 21 May last year, I was shot at by a group of unknown gunmen and barely scraped through, suffering severe injuries. The Delhi Police did not take this incident into consideration to provide me security,” he told Firstpost. “Even when the Delhi Police had to furnish a report on my threat perception in Ministry of Home Affairs, the incident of attack on me was not considered. Rather, it misled the Ministry of Home Affairs to believe that there was no threat to my life,” he added. [caption id=“attachment_5290781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] Sharma mentioned that only after the court ordered a fresh threat perception report, he was informed by the Deputy Commissioner, Special Cell Delhi Police, last month that he would be provided security only on the day on which he attends the court proceedings. “I have to travel across various states. So providing security only when I have to attend court is not enough, as there may be more attacks on me in the future,” he said. Sharma, who heads the NGO Roads Anti-Corruption, sought 24-hour protection from the police. The NGO filed a case against Surendra Bansal in January 2017, who, according to the case, indulged in financial irregularities in a project of drain construction under the Public Works Department. The Anti-Corruption branch arrested Bansal’s son Vinay in May 2018. Bansal passed away before the inquiry began. Special Commissioner of Police Arvind Deep had confirmed his arrest and said, “He was a partner at the firm along with his father. In the PWD scam case, their company had submitted bills for purchasing materials for construction work. Our investigation revealed there are no such firms. The bills were fake.” Sharma had been demanding that the role of the Delhi chief minister should also be investigated as he suspected that the firm acquired the contract by undue means. “What we are demanding is that the role of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should been enquired into. Until and unless the officers of the department are not interrogated, the truth behind the scam will never be revealed. The said work was allotted 46 percent below the estimated rate. How and where can a company get building materials 46 percent below the market rate?” he said. Soon after Vinay’s arrest, AAP had hurriedly called a press conference claiming that the case was politically motivated and the agency was used to malign the name of Kejriwal. A Delhi government release said, “Vinay’s father Late Surendra Bansal ran a company which worked with PWD since several years. The company of Mr Bansal was awarded a work of constructing a drain by the PWD. The drain was constructed by the company. Third party certification of the construction was done by IIT Roorkee. PWD also handed over completion certificate to the company.”