The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday carried out raids in at least 30 locations including premises of and associated with former Jammu and Kashmir governor, Satya Pal Malik, in connection with a probe into alleged corruption in the award of a contract worth ₹2,200 crore of civil works of Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project (HEP) to a private company in the Union territory. Malik was effectively the whistleblower who pointed to corruption in this contract and it is not clear why he was raided.

The 624-megawatt Kiru project is a run-of-river scheme over the Chenab River in Kishtwar district. The searches began early morning on Thursday in J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Delhi and Mumbai with over 100 officers of the anti-corruption agency part of the raiding teams. Officials who didn’t want to be named said premises linked to Malik located at RK Puram, Asian Games, Gurugram and Baghpat were included in the searches.

Among others raided include former chairman of the Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Ltd Navin Kumar Chaudhary.

Malik said on his X account that he is not afraid of the CBI raids. “I have been ill for the last 3-4 days and am admitted to the hospital. Despite this, my house is being raided by the dictator through government agencies. My driver and my assistant are also being raided and harassed unnecessarily. I am a farmer’s son, I will not be afraid of these raids. I am with the farmers,” he said in his post.

Interestingly, Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir from August 2018 to 2019, kicked off the investigation by alleging, in October 2021, that he was offered a ₹300 crore bribe for clearing two files, including the one about the power project. CBI didn’t elaborate how he came under the scanner in the case.

Malik, a member of the BJP, has, in recent years, turned a critic of the BJP-led NDA government in New Delhi, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over its handling of the farm protest in 2020-21, and regarding the circumstances that led to the Pulwama terror strike in 2019.

The federal agency registered a case on April 20, 2022 at the request of the J&K government. It was alleged that there was corruption in awarding the civil-work contract related to the Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project (HEP) worth ₹2,200 crore.

Chaudhary and other former officials of the Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Ltd, MS Babu, MK Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra, and a firm Patel Engineering Ltd were named in the CBI first information report (FIR).

“Though a decision was taken in the 47th board meeting of CVPPPL (Chenab Valley Power Projects (P) Ltd) for re-tender through e-tendering with a reverse auction after the cancellation of the ongoing tendering process, the same was not implemented (according to the decision taken in the 48th board meeting) and the tender was finally awarded to Patel Engineering Limited,” the FIR alleged.

CBI said in a statement in July 2022 that “in award of civil works package of Kiru Hydroelectric Project, guidelines regarding e-tendering were not followed and though a decision was taken in the board meeting of CVPPPL (Chenab Valley Power Projects (P) Ltd) for re-tender through e-tendering with reverse auction, after cancellation of on-going tendering process, this was not implemented (as per a decision taken in the next board meeting) and the tender was finally awarded to said private company”.