- Police also arrest the then Taluka Development Officer (TDO) Darshan Patel in Dahod district, taking the number of persons held so far to seven
- Leader of Opposition Amit Chavda had earlier warned of the scandal in a letter to Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel, estimating the fraud at around Rs 250 crore.
NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, MAY 17
Dahod police have on Saturday arrested Gujarat Minister of State for Panchayat and Agriculture Bachubhai Khabad’s son, Balvant Khabad, for his alleged involvement in a Rs 71 crore MGNREGA scam where some contracted agencies received payments from the government without finishing work or supplying goods, police said.
Police also arrested the then Taluka Development Officer (TDO) Darshan Patel in Dahod district, taking the number of persons held so far to seven. Meanwhile, the minister’s younger son, Kiran Khabad, is absconding, an officer said on Saturday.
The scam, linked to massive irregularities in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme, has surfaced in Dahod district’s Dhanpur and Devgadh Baria talukas.
Bachubhai Khabad, who represents the Devgadhbariya constituency, is a Minister of State for Panchayat and Agriculture.
The alleged scam involved owners of 35 agencies in connivance with government officials siphoning off Rs 71 crore between 2021 and 2024 by producing bogus work completion certificates and other evidence to get the payment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
A police officer said Balvant Khabad owns one of these agencies, accused of committing fraud in MGNREGA works in areas under Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur talukas of tribal-dominated Dahod district.
“Dahod Police have arrested Bachubhai Khabad’s son Balvant Khabad and the then TDO Darshan Patel in connection with the MGNREGA scam in the district. We had arrested five persons earlier,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police and Investigation Officer Jagdishsinh Bhandari.
The scandal surfaced after B M Patel, Director of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), flagged major irregularities in project execution in Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur talukas. An audit that followed uncovered the fraud, tracing it to Raj Construction and Raj Traders, firms run by Balwant and Kiran Khabad, both of whom had sought anticipatory bail amid mounting evidence.
Police last month registered an FIR on charges of cheating, forgery, and breach of trust against unidentified persons, including government employees, after the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) unearthed the scam amounting to Rs 71 crore. So far, Rs 60.90 crore in fake bills have been tracked in Devgadh Baria and Rs 10.10 crore in Dhanpur
During field visits, RDA officials found that payments were made to the contractors for those roads not laid but shown as completed on the paper to receive the payment, the FIR said.
The assigned work includes constructing roads, check walls, and stone bunds in two talukas of Dahod between January 2021 and December 2024.
Police said payments were also made to agencies ineligible for supplying material or those who had not participated in the tendering process.
Leader of Opposition Amit Chavda had earlier warned of the scandal in a letter to the Chief Minister, estimating the fraud at around Rs 250 crore.
In a scathing attack, Chavda alleged that the Khabad-linked firms received unchecked payments for years. “This is daylight robbery of Gujarat’s poorest,” he said, demanding the minister’s resignation and a criminal probe at the state level.
Further investigation is underway.
