Hyderabad, February 04: A controversy is brewing in the AP police over an ambitious Rs 8 crore communications system following allegations of favouritism shown to one company in return for alleged kickbacks.
The Tetra communications system is meant to achieve effective coordination among various units of the police, particularly the Hyderabad and Cyberabad police commissionerates.
Following allegations of favouritism, one of the bidders, the Motorola-HCL combine, has taken up the matter with the state government.
An enquiry into the deal appears imminent, top sources told Express.
The Tetra project was taken up under the modernisation of police (MoP) funds sanctioned by the Centre in March 2009. A committee was set up to pilot the purchase, and a sub-committee was asked to study the required specs before finalising the tender documents.
The then director-general of police R R Girish Kumar appointed S K Jayachandra to head the committee, empowering him to pilot the deal.
This appointment invited objections from several officers, who felt Jayachandra had little to do with police communications. One of the objectors sent a note to the then DGP, saying the Provisions & Logistics wing of the police could not therefore be responsible for any aspect of the project.
As per the rules, all purchases for the police department have to be done under the chairmanship of the additional DGP (Provisions & Logistics) but this norm was given the go by for the Tetra project.
Among the other members of the committee were the then IG communications Krishna Prasad and DIG N Balasubrahmanyam.
Sources said the subcommittee recommended awarding the contract to the most experienced bidder with the requirement that it meet the specs laid down.
In August 2010, the other members of the committee, except Jayachandra, suggested that the contract be given to Motorola-HCL as they had previously installed Tetra communications systems in Delhi, Kolkata and Karnataka. The firm was found to fulfil all criteria required for the project.
Apart from Motorola-HCL, the other competing firms were Icomm and EADS.
Sources said the main criteria the subcommittee looked for was seamless connectivity between the Hyderabad and Cyberabad commissionerates.
Of the three bidders, the Cyberabad police commissionerate had not had a good experience with the Tetra equipment it purchased from EADS three years ago. The system remained nonfunctional for some reason.
As for Icomm, the firm reportedly could not provide connectivity between the two commissionerates due to some technical problems and therefore it too was ruled out.
Motorola-HCL was found to fit the bill as it had state-of- the-art facilities for uninterrupted connectivity. Even as a move was underway to finalise Motorola-HCL for the deal, the entire tender process was cancelled abruptly in January.
A fresh process was taken up, and several alterations were made to it. Some rules were reportedly relaxed and the eligibility criterion was set aside.
Sources said the committee headed by Jayachandra finalised Icomm for the project and the orders would be issued in the next couple of days, which many officers allege is in complete violation of norms.
Meanwhile, upset over changes in the tender process, Motorola-HCL approached the state government and its executives are likely to meet chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in the next few days.
‘’The fresh rules are much more relaxed and the eligibility criteria has been given the go by,’’ sources said.
—–Agencies