PGVCL cheated out of 42L by weighbridge manipulation

Rajkot: A major fraud involving the manipulation of weighbridge readings to misappropriate material worth over Rs 41.68 lakh has come to light at the Jamnagar regional store office of Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL).

Noormamad Khira (50), who has worked at the office for three years, lodged a complaint at Jamnagar Panch B Division police station naming the proprietors of Jay Balaji Enterprise and Meldi Enterprise.

According to the FIR, PGVCL had kept scrap in the store compound and later sold it in an auction to Surat-based Nisarg Star LLP at the rate of Rs 228.5 a kilogram. While the dispatch records indicated that 60,892kg of scrap had been loaded, payment checks revealed that only 42,650kg was accounted for.

After internal inquiries, PGVCL wrote to the purchasers, Dharmesh and Ramesh of Nisarg Star. The company said its entire consignment had been sold onward to Jay Balaji Enterprise and Meldi Enterprise of Morbi.

Further investigation brought out CCTV footage from three weighbridges where trucks carrying the scrap were weighed. The footage showed people associated with the two accused companies allegedly tampering with the weighbridge. Footage showed a person get off the truck and manipulate the weighbridge with a jack to reduce the measured weight.

PGVCL was therefore paid for only 42,650kg of material, a shortfall of 18,242 kg. The estimated loss to PGVCL from this was Rs 41.68 lakh.