Sandip Rajput, one of the key accused in the fake government office scam that shook Gujarat last year, died while in custody. The Chhota Udepur Jail authorities informed that Rajput, still in his 30s, complained of chest pain on Wednesday evening after which he was rushed to the Civil hospital. Sandip Rajput died while undergoing the treatment, the authorities said.
The deceased Sandip Rajput was apprehended by the authorities last year. He was accused of being a part of the huge racket which defrauded the government. The mindboggling scope of the con game involved setting up fake Government office at Bodeli in Chhota Udepur district. The fake office actually not only did communicate officially to the Gandhinagar headquarter for years but also managed to receive government funds in crores.
Rajput posed as an executive engineer with Irrigation Project Division, Bodeli. He was accused of forging documents, signatures and other documents. He along with others acquired 93 government projects and received funds accumulating over Rs 4.15 crore.
In connivance with the government officials, main accused Abu Bakr Saiyad, a contractor, and Sandip Rajput, the co-accused set tup a dummy office of executive engineer irrigation project division in Bodeli, Chhota Udepur. The fraudsters used to send proposals for development works under various government schemes to the office of the project administrator ( tribal sub-plan) for Chhota Udepur. Surprisingly, the proposals used to get cleared and the payments in crores were made.
The scam ran unabated for years till October 2023 when the District Collector Sachin Kumar sought to know more about applications requesting for Rs 3.78 crores for 12 border village and lift irrigation projects. During the investigation that followed, the scam was unearthed, leading to several arrests.
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