CBI seals flat of ex-CIMFR director in Rs 139 crore honorarium scam in Dhanbad

• The CBI sealed the apartment of former CIMFR director Dr. Pradip Kumar Singh in connection with a Rs 139 crore research fee scam
• Simultaneous raids were conducted on the residences of Dr. Pradip Kumar Singh and senior scientist Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh
• The CBI filed an FIR against both individuals, and the scam involved the illegal distribution of over Rs 139 million among 553 employees at CIMFR

The anti-corruption wing of the CBI today sealed the apartment of the former director of the Central Institute for Mineral Fuels Research (CIMFR) Dr. Pradip Kumar Singh in connection with the Rs 139 crore research fee scam.

The flat is in Satyam Shivam Sundaram Flat in Dhirendra Puram Colony under Dhanbad Sadar Police Station.

CBI Dhanbad teams simultaneously raided the flats of Dr. Pradip Kumar Singh at Dhirendra Puram and the residence of senior scientist Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Quality Assessment Unit of Coal Sample Research at Digwadih under Jorapokhar Police Station.

While the CBI officials after the search operation sealed the apartment of Dr. Pradip Kumar Singh, the raid continued till the report was filed at the residence of Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh. CBI officials involved in the search operation refused to divulge any information to the media about the recovery of documents related to the scam.

The CBI on Wednesday filed an FIR against Dr. Pradip Kumar Singh and Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh in connection with the fraud. The research honorarium scam surfaced in 2022. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) suspended Dr Pradip Kumar Singh a day before he quit as CIMFR director last year.

Dr Ashok Kumar Singh was removed from the post of head of the sample evaluation department 10 days ago.

More than 139 million rupees were illegally distributed among 553 scientists, technical officers, technical assistants, officers and employees as research honorarium at CIMFR when Dr. PK Singh.