Former GujSAIL CEO Ajay Chauhan booked for alleged corruption

Ahmedabad: The state anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Wednesday booked the former chief executive officer (CEO) of state government's aviation department captain Ajay Chauhan and two others in an alleged corruption case to the tune of Rs72 lakh.

Chauhan had joined Gujarat State Aviation Infrastructure Company Ltd (GujSAIL) in 2004 as its director and became its CEO in 2010. The Bhupendra Patel-led BJP government set up an inquiry against him last year following complaints alleging corruption running into several crores.

Following the inquiry, officials of GujSAIL on Wednesday filed a formal complaint with the ACB based on which an FIR was registered. The ACB officials said that primary investigation has revealed Chauhan gave his flying services to a private aviation firm-Aryan Aviation Pvt Ltd- commercially, breaching government rules which prohibited him flying for any commercial gains other than GUJSAIL.

ACB officials said that complainants from GujSAIL have said that at least on one occasion, Chauhan flew his family members in government aircraft without permission, causing losses to the public exchequer. When asked about the reports suggesting Chauhan did it multiple times, an ACB official said that investigation is on.

In a press note, ACB has claimed that Chauhan accepted Rs10 lakh as kickback from Alpesh Tripathi, the co-accused who is the director of a private aviation firm Kasmc Aviation Pvt Ltd. The third accused has been identified as Alpesh Prajapati, an accountant of GujSAIL.

The note claims that the three accused by misusing their powers and connivance with each other engaged in corruption amounting to Rs 72 lakh, causing loss to the government exchequer.

The development comes barely two days after an IAS officer, Aayush Sanjeev Oak, was suspended over a land deal in Surat. He was the collector of Valsad district. The government has said that his "grave negligence" caused "huge financial loss" to the government exchequer in the land deal.

Last year, the Gandhinagar police arrested ex IAS officer S K Langa in connection with a corruption case. He is accused of misusing his position as Gandhinagar collector leading to loss of public exchequer.