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CBI registers 1 FIR, 6 PEs in Rs 1,179 cr UP sugar mill scam

New Delhi: With trouble mounting for BSP chief Mayawati, the Central Bureau of Investigation has registered an FIR along with six Preliminary Enquiries (PE) in the alleged Rs 1,179 crore Uttar Pradesh sugar mill scam, sources here said on Friday.

The CBI FIR has named seven private individuals as accused in the case and charged them with forging documents and falsifying account statements to purchase seven of the 21 sugar mills that were sold by the state government of UP under Mayawati's tenure as Chief Minister.

The agency's case in this matter, however, does not mention any UP government official or politician.

The case on these seven mills was first registered by UP Police in Gomti Nagar, which was transferred to the CBI in April last year after Principal Secretary (Home Dept.) of the UP government had given the agency jurisdiction to investigate the case in the state.

Sources privy to developments said that in addition to the FIR that is looking at just seven mills, six PEs had been registered to look into the remaining 14 mills.

According to a Serious Fraud Investigation Organisation (SFIO) probe, documents submitted for the purchase of seven mills were forged, and this led to the state police registering its FIR.

Mayawati's government in 2007 had privatised 21 sugar mills of the Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation Limited and its subsidiary, which were sold between 2010 and 2011.

The Comptroller and Auditor General had in a 2013 report said these sales had caused a loss of Rs 1,179 crore to the state exchequer.

The CAG report found anomalies in the sale process, relating to undervaluation of land, plant and machinery, and lack of competition.

A former minister in Mayawati's government, Naseemuddin Siddiqui had reportedly said that the mills were sold on orders from the then Chief Minister, with Mayawati categorically denying her involvement.

She had blamed Siddiqui for the sale and later dismissed him from the party.

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