Graft charges against Rajasthan minister: BJP MP Kirodi Meena evicted from dharna site outside police station

Jaipur: BJP MP Kirodi Meena and his supporters sitting on a dharna in front of a police station here demanding registration of FIRs over alleged corruption in Rajasthan's Public Health and Engineering Department were evicted from the site on Thursday, police said.

They were taken to the Chaksu police station in the outskirts of Jaipur, they said.

Meena has alleged irregularities in the grant of tenders related to the Jal Jeevan Mission projects carried out by the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED). He along with his supporters and the complainant sat on the dharna in front of the Ashok Nagar police station on Tuesday evening alleging the police "refused to lodge the case".

On Thursday morning, when Meena went to take a bath, police barricaded the dharna site and removed his supporters' vehicles. Soon after he returned, they were put in a bus and taken to the Chaksu police station, a police official said.

While being evicted from the site, Meena alleged that he and the complainant had come to the police station to lodge cases in the "scams" related to the PHED department, but the police did not register them.

A police official present on the site said that the allegations were to be probed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and therefore the MP was asked to lodge the complaint with it.

In one of the complaints, it was alleged that tenders of Rs 900 crore were issued to two firms based on fake experience certificates in 48 projects of Jal Jeevan Mission. Two senior officials have been named in one of the complaints, while Rajasthan PHED Minister Mahesh Joshi along with others have been named in the other.

"The chief minister says the police must register FIRs. I came here with the complainant, the Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan came, the BJP's state president came but the FIRs were not registered," Meena said and accused Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of lying.

Joshi has, however, rejected the allegations and said a minister does not have a role in the tendering process.

"The allegations against me are totally baseless. It has become a habit of Kirodi Meena to make allegations. If he has proof, he should give it to the chief minister or to anyone he wants," he had said.