Cong seeks CBI probe into Rs 100-cr scam in vehicle scrapping project

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Devender Yadav on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), demanding a CBI probe into an alleged Rs 100-crore scam in the scrapping of end-of-life vehicles in the Capital.

In his complaint, Yadav alleged large-scale corruption involving enforcement agencies, the Delhi Transport Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Traffic Police, and other private Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFS). He claimed that forged and fabricated Certificates of Deposit were issued against seized vehicles by enforcement agencies, even though such certificates are meant to be issued only by the Central Transport Department.

According to Yadav, the Delhi Traffic Police disposed of seized vehicles without any tendering or auction process, resulting in a loss of crores to the government exchequer. “Vehicles were sold illegally to scrapping companies at throwaway prices, with no official record of how many were handed over or how much money was received,” he alleged.

Raising another concern, the DPCC chief said the Transport Department wrongly gave away 10,919 seized e-rickshaws to scrap companies under the garb of the end-of-life vehicle policy, even though e-rickshaws are exempt from the category and could have been reclaimed by owners after paying penalties.

He further alleged that scrap companies, in collusion with enforcement agencies, even created fake identity cards bearing the logos of MCD and Delhi Police to intimidate vehicle owners and forcefully seize their vehicles. “Illegal seizures were carried out using fabricated challans, and when one company faced scrutiny, multiple other companies were floated under the same ownership to continue the fraudulent activities,” Yadav added.