Agartala: The state government denied the Opposition Congress's allegation that Union minister for transport and highways Nitin Gadkari and Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb were involved in a Rs 10,000-crore scam.
Tripura PCC member Gopal Roy on Sunday alleged that a decision was made to award work order for a 996km-national highway in Tripura to National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited without any tender.
Roy showed an office letter issued on August 10 by Bhai Vijay Chibber, adviser to Deb, where Chibber said he attended a meeting chaired by Gadkari in New Delhi. The meeting was held on various issues, including handing over of stretches of the national highway in Tripura to NHIDCL.
Roy said, "The whole work is worth Rs 10,000 crore and the state PWD could have got nine per cent agency commission out of the work. We feel Deb and Gadkari are directly involved in this scam. We demand a CBI inquiry into the whole issue," he said.
A statement issued by the state government said Roy's allegation is baseless and stems from a lack of understanding of the issue.
The statement said the NHIDCL is an agency used by the ministry of road transport and highways for maintenance or development of national highways and is not a contractor.