Raipur
Police have arrested two persons, including former District Project Coordinator S.P. Pandey, in connection with a 15-year-old school furniture procurement scam involving misappropriation of ₹67.15 lakh in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja region.
The arrested individuals were identified as former District Project Coordinator of Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission Satyaprakash Pandey and Sanjay Patel, proprietor of M/s Darshan Fabrication and Aakriti Printing Press. Officials produced both accused before a local court on 19 August 2026, which remanded them to judicial custody.
The case dates back to the 2010–11 financial year when the Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) office in Ambikapur received an allocation of ₹2.70 crore to purchase furniture for upper primary schools in the Surajpur and Balrampur-Ramanujganj areas of the then undivided Surguja district. Following approval from the district collector and mission director, purchase orders were issued to registered firms at CSIDC prescribed rates.
Investigations revealed that M/s Darshan Fabrication submitted fake bills showing supply of furniture without delivering the items and received payments from public funds. Patel retained a commission from the disbursed funds and passed the remainder to Pandey. The fraudulent billing scheme caused a loss of ₹67,15,814 to the state exchequer.
Police registered the case (Crime No. 28/2017) in 2017. Charges against the accused have been established under Sections 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, read with Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code.
Investigating officers found evidence indicating that other suppliers also committed irregularities in furniture delivery and paid commissions to Pandey. Further investigation into the role of other vendors and total commission payments is under way.
