Police in Lucknow have booked ten people, including eight employees and two contractors of Shalimar Corp Ltd, for their alleged involvement in a scrap misappropriation fraud estimated at ₹4.74 crore. The First Information Report was lodged at the Gomti Nagar Extension police station on the directives of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), acting on a formal complaint submitted by company representative Sumant Singh. According to the complaint, company staff and private contractors colluded over several years to rig the scrap disposal process across multiple ongoing commercial and residential projects, causing major financial losses to the real estate firm.
Audio Recording Sparks Internal Inquiry
The matter surfaced after an audio recording emerged featuring a conversation between contractor Chand Babu and Pankaj Shukla, a store assistant stationed at the company’s Shalimar Mannat project on Ayodhya Road. The contents of the recorded dialogue pointed to suspicious dealings and financial impropriety in the routine handling of scrap materials. Following the discovery, the management initiated an internal inquiry to review the operations of its project stores and examine the conduct of staff members dealing directly with scrap buyers. Contracts for scrap collection from the Shalimar One World Township in Gomti Nagar Extension had earlier been awarded to Chand Babu, who operates Mix New India Steel, and Syed Faizal Ali, the proprietor of Reyansh Traders and Shahid Enterprises.
Tender Data Leaked and Weighing Slips Manipulated
Findings from the internal inquiry revealed that the fraudulent practices had reportedly been underway since 2018. Certain personnel allegedly abused their administrative positions to leak sensitive, confidential details concerning scrap sale tenders to favored contractors before competitive bidding concluded. Purchase officers Alok Tripathi and Vilayat Hasan have been specifically accused of passing this advance information to contractors to ensure they secured the bids. The complaint further states that once the contracts were assigned, the consignment weights were deliberately under-recorded during weighing operations to depress recorded volumes. In return for facilitating the manipulation, substantial illicit commissions were allegedly distributed among participating staff. The complaint cites payments of ₹5 lakh to Alok Tripathi and ₹1 lakh to Vilayat Hasan, alongside payouts to several other employees.
Police Begin Scrutiny of Records and Transactions
Besides Tripathi and Hasan, the police complaint names purchase officer Devendra Singh and five head store personnel: Anand Yadav, Vasudev Parida, Pawanjeet Singh, Nitin Saini, and Bahadur Waris. Both private contractors, Chand Babu and Syed Faizal Ali, have also been formally arraigned. The station in-charge at Gomti Nagar Extension confirmed that a comprehensive investigation is in progress to verify the allegations detailed in the FIR. Investigators are examining scrap procurement registers, tendering files, weighing slips, billing records, and banking transactions to determine the exact magnitude of the financial diversion. The audio recording submitted by the complainant will also undergo forensic and investigative scrutiny. Police noted that while the case has been formally registered, the findings remain subject to the collection and verification of evidentiary material.
Follow for daily updates on cybercrime, corporate fraud, DFIR, hacking, investigations, and digital forensics
