Indore: BJP national office-bearer among 9 sentenced to 3-year RI in 2008 garden beautification scam

A local court on Tuesday sentenced nine persons, including a national level Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office-bearer, to three years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for involvement in irregularities worth Rs 33.60 lakh in beautification of the city's Meghdoot Upvan (garden), a prosecution official said.

Former members and officials of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) were among those found guilty in the 2008 case.

Special judge Sanjay Kumar Gupta handed three-year rigorous imprisonment to three former IMC councillors -- Suraj Kero, Rajendra Soni and Kailash Yadav - in the case registered by the Lokayukta police in 2008, the official said.

Kero, one of the convicts in the case, is currently the national treasurer of the BJP's Scheduled Caste Morcha.

Besides, a contractor, Keshav Pandit, and then-IMC officials - Suresh Kumar Jain, Amanullah Khan, Vidyanidhi Srivastava, Rishi Prasad Gautam and Jagdish Dagonkar - were also found guilty and given jail term, the official said.

All IMC officers sentenced by the court in the case have retired from service, he said.

Investigations by the Lokayukta police found the accused had duped the IMC of Rs 33.60 lakh by making payments to different contractors for works which were already done in the name of beautification of Meghdoot Upvan, the official said.