Lokayukta Special Police Establishment (SPE) has expanded its investigation into a massive Rs 100-crore financial scandal within Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday. In a high-stakes follow-up to Friday’s raids, a dedicated team stormed BMC’s Central Workshop, seizing critical documents related to spare part purchases, scrap details, and tender files. The raid, which continued late into Sunday evening, follows registration of an FIR against Additional Commissioner Finance, Gunwant Sewantkar. In a swift response to the unfolding scandal, BMC Commissioner Sanskriti Jain issued an order on Saturday relieving Sewantkar of all financial responsibilities. ‘Repair service’ loophole: Lokayukta investigators revealed that a significant portion of the fraudulent billing occurred under the guise of ‘repair services’. Officials reportedly favoured this category because mechanical parts are difficult to verify once a vehicle is back in operation, effectively destroying physical evidence of whether the parts were actually replaced or repaired.

 

The probe also highlighted a bizarre pattern in the repainting of municipal vehicles. Files suggest that staggering sums were siphoned off by billing for multiple color changes on the same vehicles within a short span of time. Sunday’s seizure included inward and outward registers, purchase tenders and bills that investigators believe were heavily escalated to facilitate high commissions. Systemic manipulation of SAP software: The syndicate allegedly manipulated BMC’s SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products) software to process fake e-bills for the Central Motor Workshop and Water Works departments. By creating fraudulent financial heads, the accused transferred public funds directly into the bank accounts of firms owned by their family members and close associates. “The cheating was executed through the software to make the transactions appear as part of a ‘perfect’ accounting cycle,” stated SP Durgesh Kumar Rathore. “Our teams have now collected account numbers of the contractors and firms that received these illicit payments.” While the FIR currently centers on Gunwant Sewantkar, official has denied being the sole architect of the discrepancies. He argued that the Accounts Branch does not operate in isolation and that all invoices are forwarded only after verification by respective department heads and final approval from the Municipal Commissioner’s office.