INDORE: A local court on Tuesday sentenced nine including a national-level BJP office bearer, to 3 years of RI in connection to discrepancies worth Rs 33.60 Lakh in beautification of the city’s Meghdoot Upvan (garden).

Those guilty included Former members and officials of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC). Suraj Kero, Rajendra Soni, and Kailash Yadav named accused in the case registered by the Lokayukta police in 2008 were handed 3 years of rigorous imprisonment by Special judge Sanjay Kumar Gupta. Kero is currently the national treasurer of the BJP’s Scheduled Caste Morcha.

Besides, a contractor, Keshav Pandit, and then-IMC officials – Suresh Kumar Jain, Amanullah Khan, Vidyanidhi Srivastava, Rishi Prasad Gautam, and Jagdish Dagonkar – were also found guilty and given a jail term, the official said.

A probe into the complaint filed with the Lokayukta police revealed the accused had duped the IMC of Rs 33.60 lakh by making payments to different contractors for works that were already done in the name of beautification of Meghdoot Upvan.