CBI questions KCR in 2006 case

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was examined by CBI in connection with a case related to alleged irregularities in awarding of the contract for the construction of ESI Hospitals when he was Union Labour Minister in 2006. Sources said today that Rao was questioned on Monday on reasons for awarding the contract to Executive Engineer of Andhra Pradesh Fisheries Department and not the central government agency National Building Construction Corporation. They said the contract was given when Rao was Union Minister of Labour, Employment and Training during the UPA government tenure in 2006. Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) of India had started a probe in 2007-2008 into alleged substandard quality of work after which the CBI started an investigation based on a source information, the sources said. It is suspected that the construction had resulted in loss of crores to the exchequer, they said. The agency has named Suryanarayana, the then Executive Engineer of the Andhra Pradesh Fisheries Department, in the FIR related to the case who was already under probe in the state for alleged amassing of disproportionate assets. CBI has so far examined Rao's private secretary, the then Director General of ESIC and the then Controller of Finance in connection with the case.