CBI raids Haldia Dock Complex Offices
- The Statesman
- 21 Jun 2014
Raids part of probe into multi-crore corruption scam
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Haldia, 20 June
A CBI team has started conducting raids at the offices in the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) area since yesterday in connection with the investigation into alleged corruption at Haldia port, amounting to hundreds of crores, which has reached the Shipping Ministry’s list of top problems facing the Kolkata Port Trust.
The agency officials headed by the additional SP Mr D Sahoo have already grilled a few port officials and collected some documents with regards to the matter of shore handling and ‘forced exit’ of Haldia Bulk Terminals, a joint venture between homegrown ABG Infralogistics and French company Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA).
For the past few years, Haldia Dock Banchao Committee and Haldia Dock Officers’ Forum had raised the corruption issue and demanded a CBI inquiry, but the erstwhile Congress-led Union government did not pay any heed on the matter.
Mr Ramakant Burman, secretary of Haldia Dock Officers’ Forum who had raised the corruption issue was later dismissed from service by the port authority, but the issue went to the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Transport, Tourism and Culture which had replaced the ministry’s secretary, reportedly on charges of misleading the Committee over some issues related with the port.
“Soon after taking charge at the Centre, the BJP government has taken up the issue and asked the CBI to probe the matter.
“I am very happy to hear that the CBI has started investigation and it would soon divulge the facts in front of the people,” said Mr Chandan Mitra, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.
Two years ago, when HBT left the Haldia port, it had blamed “vested interests” for causing a great loss to the national exchequer. HBT had been contracted to operate two mechanised berths, but, it alleged, cargo was diverted to the expensive manual berths.
While Haldia Bulk Terminals charged the Kolkata Port Trust Rs 75 per tonne of cargo, the manual berths charged Rs 150 and above.
That was the loss to the exchequer the company was referring to.
The vested interests the company was alluding to is Ripley & Co promoted by Mr Swapan Sadhan Bose, aka Tutu Bose or Tutuda, a familiar face in Kolkata's business circuit.
A document which was forwarded to the Parliamentary Standing Committee indicated a scam of Rs 24,500 crore in the past 35 years at Haldia port.
The document has pointed a finger at a private operator Ripley, a company run by the family of former and current Trinamul Rajya Sabha MPs, Mr Swapan Sadhan (Tutu) and Mr Srinjaoy Bose.
The document has also said that the aforesaid company and its various sister concerns have been working at the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) since 1977.
The KoPT had issued them a Handling Agent License in 2006 in violation of Section 42(3) or 42(3A) of Major Port Trust Act 1963. In the document, it has been categorically mentioned that the private parties are paying just an annual license fee of a mere Rs 5,400, and they are handling the cargo, shore operations and are taking crores as profit from the port, thereby depriving the port authority of its financial
benefits.
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Haldia, 20 June
A CBI team has started conducting raids at the offices in the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) area since yesterday in connection with the investigation into alleged corruption at Haldia port, amounting to hundreds of crores, which has reached the Shipping Ministry’s list of top problems facing the Kolkata Port Trust.
The agency officials headed by the additional SP Mr D Sahoo have already grilled a few port officials and collected some documents with regards to the matter of shore handling and ‘forced exit’ of Haldia Bulk Terminals, a joint venture between homegrown ABG Infralogistics and French company Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA).
For the past few years, Haldia Dock Banchao Committee and Haldia Dock Officers’ Forum had raised the corruption issue and demanded a CBI inquiry, but the erstwhile Congress-led Union government did not pay any heed on the matter.
Mr Ramakant Burman, secretary of Haldia Dock Officers’ Forum who had raised the corruption issue was later dismissed from service by the port authority, but the issue went to the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Transport, Tourism and Culture which had replaced the ministry’s secretary, reportedly on charges of misleading the Committee over some issues related with the port.
“Soon after taking charge at the Centre, the BJP government has taken up the issue and asked the CBI to probe the matter.
“I am very happy to hear that the CBI has started investigation and it would soon divulge the facts in front of the people,” said Mr Chandan Mitra, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.
Two years ago, when HBT left the Haldia port, it had blamed “vested interests” for causing a great loss to the national exchequer. HBT had been contracted to operate two mechanised berths, but, it alleged, cargo was diverted to the expensive manual berths.
While Haldia Bulk Terminals charged the Kolkata Port Trust Rs 75 per tonne of cargo, the manual berths charged Rs 150 and above.
That was the loss to the exchequer the company was referring to.
The vested interests the company was alluding to is Ripley & Co promoted by Mr Swapan Sadhan Bose, aka Tutu Bose or Tutuda, a familiar face in Kolkata's business circuit.
A document which was forwarded to the Parliamentary Standing Committee indicated a scam of Rs 24,500 crore in the past 35 years at Haldia port.
The document has pointed a finger at a private operator Ripley, a company run by the family of former and current Trinamul Rajya Sabha MPs, Mr Swapan Sadhan (Tutu) and Mr Srinjaoy Bose.
The document has also said that the aforesaid company and its various sister concerns have been working at the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) since 1977.
The KoPT had issued them a Handling Agent License in 2006 in violation of Section 42(3) or 42(3A) of Major Port Trust Act 1963. In the document, it has been categorically mentioned that the private parties are paying just an annual license fee of a mere Rs 5,400, and they are handling the cargo, shore operations and are taking crores as profit from the port, thereby depriving the port authority of its financial
benefits.
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