CBI registers case against Lt Colonel &DRDO officials in Rs 500 crore land scam

Bengaluru: The CBI has registered a case against a Lieutenant Colonel and some yet unidentified DRDO officials for their alleged involvement in a Rs 500 crore scam in Bengaluru by transferring over 12 acres of land to a person, an official said on Monday.

Separate CBI teams on Monday conducted searches at seven places, including the residential and official premises of the accused persons, in Karnataka and Telangana and recovered some incriminating documents.

Lieutenant Colonel M.G. Thimmaya, a "private person" N.H. Rustumji and other unidentified officials of Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO)  an agency under the Defence Ministry  were on May 12 booked under sections of cheating and criminal conspiracy of Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act.

It is alleged that Thimmaya, the then Estate Manager DRDO, and other officials of the agency entered into a criminal conspiracy with Rustumji, a resident of Bengaluru, during 2004-2006 and transferred over 12 acres of land in his favour, the CBI FIR said.

Thimmaya is currently posted in Bengaluru.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a preliminary investigation into the case on September 8, 2016 on the complaint of Defence Ministry's Director (Vigilance) Atul Kumar Singh.

Singh forwarded his complaint to the CBI on April 6, 2016."Thimmaya and other DRDO officials abused their official position while transferring the land when its matter was sub judice in the Supreme Court," the FIR said.