Face2News/New Delhi/Bhopal
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered three separate cases on 09.05.2025 following directions from the Hon’ble High Court of Madhya Pradesh. These cases involve a major financial fraud centered around the submission of forged bank guarantees to the tune of Rs. 183.21 crores by an Indore-based company, to the Madhya Pradesh Jal Nigam Limited (MPJNL).
The company secured three irrigation projects in 2023 in Madhya Pradesh, worth a staggering Rs. 974 crore from MPJNL. To support these contracts, eight fake bank guarantees valued at Rs. 183.21 crores were submitted.
During initial verification, MPJNL received fraudulent email responses impersonating the official domain of Punjab National Bank (PNB), falsely confirming the authenticity of the bank guarantees. Relying on these confirmations, MPJNL awarded three contracts, valued at over Rs. 974 crore to the firm.
(SUBHEAD)In this matter, the CBI launched a large-scale operation on 19.06.2025 and 20.06.2025, conducting searches at 23 locations across five states, viz. New Delhi, West Bengal, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh, leading to the arrest of two individuals from Kolkata, including a senior manager from Punjab National Bank. Both individuals were produced today before the local jurisdictional court in Kolkata and will be brought to Indore on transit remand.
The investigation so far has revealed that a Kolkata-based syndicate has been systematically fabricating and circulating fake bank guarantees to secure government contracts across multiple states.
Further investigation is still on.