This story is from January 13, 2017

Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe may face heat of Katni scam

Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe may face heat of Katni scam
BHOPAL: With assembly elections in five states round the corner, the BJP high command has sought a high-level inquiry into multi-crore Katni hawala scam to stop other parties from deriving political mileage and causing any embarrassment to the saffron party.
Sources in the BJP said party state affairs in-charge Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan may also face the heat for not keeping leaders in Delhi informed over alleged involvement of minister of state (independent charge) Sanajay Pathak.
Sources say the high-command has taken a serious view of two leaders’ ‘failure’ to keep it in the loop about political developments and public outcry in Katni.
As the scandal hit the headlines shortly after Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi’s tough talking on black money and corruption, it has drawn the attention of PMO. More so, central agencies are already monitoring transactions by mining barons in Katni since 2009-10. The issue grabbed eyeballs when the state government transferred Katni SP Gaurav Tiwari, who hails from Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Modi.
Sources in the BJP said it was then general secretary Arvind Menon, who helped Pathak join the BJP at time when the party had a clear mandate in the state and Pathak was considered a turncoat due to his soured relations with the Congress. “He was introduced to Modi. But it was not the case with two other turncoats Uday Pratap Singh and Narayan Tripathi,” sources say.
“When Kushabhau Thakre was organisation general secretary of state, he used to go through every newspaper report involving any minister or party office-bearers. The organisation must keep a watch on the government and outside too is what he used to say,” said BJP veteran and former Rajya Sabha member Raghunandan Sharma.
Party leaders also point out the role of state organisation general secretary Suhas Bhagat, who had been playing a mute spectator during organisation meetings like recently-held state working committee where the issue was prominently raised by fellow party men.

Quoting government reports, a BJP leader said financial intelligence unit keeping a watch on unnamed accounts and transactions had been monitoring dealings by mining barons of Katni since 2009. The financial institutes are learned to have found out Rs 500 crore were parked in 100 unnamed bank accounts in Katni. In 2015, the agencies stumbled upon huge transactions by Saraogi brothers.
“Pathak's name figured in the multi-crore scam. Mahendra Goenka, who was a director in Pathak’s Atisha Constructions and Saina Steels besides, another company Europratik, which were under the scanner of financial intelligence agencies,” highly placed sources told TOI.
Since the NDA government launched a massive drive against black money across the state, multi-crore scam like in Katni could make an adverse impact on the BJP’s image before assembly polls. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has already decided to raise the issue in Uttar Pradesh election especially in Varanasi. Other rival parties, including Congress and AAP are planning a big political attack on Modi's campaign during elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand, sources said.
Since chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has recommended a high-level inquiry by Enforcement Directorate (ED), the BJP high command may take a decisive action to effect changes in the state organisation, say sources in the BJP.
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