Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju is taking immense heat from the opposition following reports of his, and his cousin's alleged involvement in a Rs 450 crore hydel project scam in Arunachal Pradesh.

"The minister must resign and a high level independent probe must be ordered. Enquiry into 28 minute conversation between Satish Verma and Rijiju's cousin should also be probed," said Congress spokeperson Randeep Surjewala.

Surjewala's demand was reiterated by Aam Aadmi Party member Ashish Khetan who said, "the Minister must be removed and a high level probe should be ordered."

We explain the nature and extent of these graft allegations against Rijiju:

#1 In a petition before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Satish Verma has alleged that his services as the Central Vigilance Officer (CVO) of a power corporation were curtailed after he flagged a transportation scam worth Rs 450 crore involving Rijiju's cousin and a fraudulent land deal in Gujarat.

#2 Verma -- an NDA appointee who also assisted CBI in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case -- was the CVO of North Eastern Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO). His tenure was curtailed by a year in July and he was served a notice for alleged "misconduct" and "unauthorised absence" from duty by the Home Ministry.

#3 In his affidavit, Verma has said that all his outstation visits were accounted for and were done to investigate the fraudulent activities. He attributed his "absence" to the investigation and final unearthing of the scam.

#4 Verma has sent a 129-page report to CVC, CBI and Ministry of Power, in which he has alleged corruption in the construction of two dams for 600 MW Kameng Hydro Electric Project -- one of the biggest hydro-electric projects in Arunachal Pradesh.

#5 He has further alleged an "elaborate conspiracy" involving contractors, NEEPCO officials and the West Kameng district administration to defraud NEEPCO and the government of funds that "may extend up to Rs 450 crore." The site of the project -- West Kameng -- falls in Rijiju's parliamentary constituency Arunachal West.

#6 Verma alleges that several fake and inflated bills were presented by contractors to allegedly siphon off money in the name of transporting rocks needed for the dam construction. The report says that the transportation cost was decided arbitrarily, and many transport challans and records provided by the contractor, Patel Engineering Limited (PEL), were found to be fake. Kiren Rijiju's cousin Goboi Rijiju was one of the sub-contractors in the project.

#7 NEEPCO stopped the reimbursement of PEL's bills for the period between May and July 2015, after Verma sent an advisory to the Head of Project flagging the alleged irregularities. However, on November 9, MoS Kiren Rijiju wrote a letter to the Ministry of Power, saying the funds should be released.

#8 Apart from the report, evidence against Rijiju includes a taped conversation between Verma and Goboi Rijiju, in which the latter offered to help the CVO with a promotion, on the behest of 'bhaiya' (Kiren Rijiju), if the officer cleared the payments that had been stuck for months.

India Today is in possession of all said documents.

RIJIJU'S RESPONSE

When questioned about his role in the alleged scam, the Minister of State for Home lost his cool. "Ye jo plant kar rahe hain news, wo hamare yahan jootay khaageyenge (Those who are planting this news will be beaten with shoes if they come to Arunachal Pradesh)," he said.

Later, however, he admitted to writing a letter 'based on appeals he received from people of his constituency, including Goboi'. At the same time, he dismissed all allegations of graft.