New Delhi, January 30: CBI on Tuesday registered five FIRs against Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's (HAL) senior manager and other employees in Odisha, on charges of allegedly misappropriating funds to the tune of around Rs 13 crore. FIRs have been lodged against Bhaben Maitra, Senior Manager, Engine Division, HAL and other employees of the organisation. According to a letter written by HAL to CBI, the illegal payment was made to two private contractors of the organisation.

"Detailed vigilance by HAL and further scrutiny of relevant documents of the Bills Payable Section for the period from January 2015 to December 2015 has so far revealed that payments of Rs 171.45 lakhs have been illegally and fraudulently made to two private contractors of HAL without any supportive documents," said the letter. Rafale Deal Controversy: HAL Capable of Manufacturing Fighter Jets, Says Chairman R Madhavan.

The two contractors have been identified as Bipra Charan Maharana and Jagannath Apat. HAL has also given the names of the accused employees to the CBI. The suspects include Bhaben Maitra, Senior manager (finance), Engine Division Koraput, Odisha and Abhinash Kumar Sarkar, Assistant (finance/accounts), HAL, Engine Division, Sunabeda, Koraput among others. In October 2018, CBI raided 12 places in Sunabeda including offices of HAL employees and recovered incriminating documents. Some employees were interrogated also.