Ex-NOIDA chief engineer Yadav Singh sent to 6-day CBI custody

A CBI court on Thursday sent former Noida chief engineer Yadav Singh to custody for six days after he was arrested in connection with a corruption case. The CBI has been probing corruption allegations against the tainted engineer and his family members since August 4, 2015, following an order of the Allahabad High Court. 

Sources in CBI said that the agency, has, so far identified almost 39 immovable residential and commercial properties at different locations in Uttar Pradesh (UP). “A joint team of CBI and Income Tax department is in the process of valuing the 6 properties in Noida,” said the official.

The CBI had in August 2015, lodged an FIR against Singh over allegations of corruption in allotting Rs 954.38 crore project to private agencies in December 2011. Another FIR against Singh and his family pertains to allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The agency, had, in December last year taken Assistant Project Engineer Ramendra into custody in connection with corruption cases involving Yadav Singh.

The official said that he seemed to have very strong political connections stating: “Diamonds worth Rs 100 crore, Rs 10 crore cash and 2 kg of gold were recovered from his home during raids in 2015. Singh is believed to be close to the BSP.” 

Singh is said to have doled out contracts worth over Rs 10,000 crore to his cronies and facilitated allotment of group housing, and of commercial, industrial and institutional plots to many top ranking builders in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna E-Way.

The I-T sleuths swooped down on his properties in Noida on 27 November, 2014. They recovered Rs. 10 crore in cash and 2 kgs of diamond-studded gold ornaments. Investigations revealed that 39 companies were registered in the name of his wife Kusum Lata and 20 buildings in Noida, Ghaziabad and Delhi in Singh’s name.