Dahod, 1 June

Gujarat minister Bachubhai Khabad's son Balvant Khabad was arrested on Sunday, days after being granted bail in another case connected to the MGNREGA works, police said.

Balvant, along with his brother Kiran, sons of the Gujarat minister of state for panchayat and agriculture, were released on bail on May 29 in the first FIR against them in April.

While Kiran was arrested the same day in another case, Balvant was arrested on Sunday after Dahod 'B' division police registered a fresh FIR against him on Saturday, Deputy Superintendent of Police Jagdishsinh Bhandari said.

"As per the FIR registered on 31 May, Khabad's firm received payments of Rs 33.86 lakh from the government without completing work allotted to it under the MGNREGA at Bhanpur village in Dahod's Dhanpur taluka in 2022-23," said Bhandari.

This is the third FIR lodged by Dahod police since April after authorities found out that payments were made to various agencies despite the fact that they did not not supply the material for which they were given the contract under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

As per the FIR registered by Dahod 'B' division police on May 31, Balvant Khabad's firm 'Shree Raj Construction Company, Pipero' in connivance with government employees, managed to get a payment of Rs Rs 33.86 lakh without supplying material for the MGNREGA project carried out at Bhanpur village.

Earlier on May 16, both Balvant and Kiran were arrested on charges of cheating, forgery and breach of trust after the first FIR was registered in April in connection with the alleged MGNREGA scam of Rs 71 crore.

As per the FIR, various agencies had not completed the assigned work or supplied the required materials between 2021 and 2024 but claimed payments by submitting bogus work completion certificates and forged documents.

According to police, Balvant and Kiran are proprietors of agencies implicated in fraudulent MGNREGA projects carried out in Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur talukas of Dahod district.

While both of them received bail on May 29, the Dahod police arrested Kiran in a fresh case as soon as he came out of prison the same day.

As per the FIR lodged by Dahod 'B' division police on May 29 against agency owners and government officials, a payment of Rs 18.41 lakh had been made to agencies, including a firm owned by Kiran, despite incomplete work carried out in Lavaria village of Dahod under the MGNREGA.