CBI names 2 BHEL officials in FIR regarding missing 31 kg silver

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against two Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) officials in connection with the alleged embezzlement of 31.65 kg of silver from a solar cell plant in Gurugram. The incident was discovered during an inspection in 2024. The missing silver, currently valued at roughly Rs 71 lakh, belongs to MNRE-funded assets and was found unaccounted for during a physical verification on February 6, 2024.

The CBI registered the FIR on July 8, charging BHEL's Additional General Manager and head Dr Bharat Kumar Pant, as well as the plant's then manager-cum-material management section in-charge Ashish Kumar. The FIR also names three others - Ajay Yadav, Vinayan Bhardwaj, and Ajai Kumar - for further scrutiny. The CBI's preliminary inquiry revealed that physical verification of the silver was conducted regularly until 2018, but ceased after Pant took over as head of the plant in 2019.

The internal control mechanism for the custody and verification of silver was reportedly weakened, facilitating unauthorized access and gradual removal of the silver over time.