Intelligence agencies have informed the Centre that the monorail projects proposed by the governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra have been awarded to a Malaysian firm whose group CEO allegedly has links to Pakistan’s rogue atomic scientist, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. The Malaysia-based Scomi-Geodesic consortium’s group CEO, Shah Hakim Shahzanim Zan, is reportedly under the scanner of US intelligence for alleged links to Dr A.Q. Khan.
An official release issued by the group’s PR department in India states, however, that Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who recently cleared the project, said “work on the project would begin in January 2011 and (will) be completed in the next three years”. The PR officer of the firm in Malaysia, Ms Meena, also said the group “is already involved in the proposed monorail project in Mumbai” while the official release issued by the firm stated that “Scomi Engineering and its consortium partner have been awarded the monorail project for a 19.54-km stretch in Mumbai”.
The US slapped sanctions on the Malaysian businessman last year. His name figures along with those of others, including Dr A.Q. Khan, in connection with a “clandestine nuclear smuggling network”. The US state department report reads: “The department of state announced that sanctions will be imposed on 13 individuals (including the Scomi chief) and three private companies for involvement in the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation network.” It added: “The announcement comes after a multi-year US government review of the available information pertaining to the activities of the network.”
The US state department report also said the “network’s actions have irrevocably changed the proliferation landscape and have had lasting implications for international security”. It added: “Governments around the world, including Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Germany, the UAE, Switzerland and Malaysia, worked closely with the US to investigate and shut down the network.”
However, despite repeated attempts, the CEO, Shah Hakim Shahzanim Zan, could not be reached for comment. Scomi International president Kanesan Vellupilai, when contacted, said the “sanction is not against the firm” and that “we continue to do business across the world, including the United States”. He also said that the “company was duped and its materials were being clandestinely shipped to Iran while they were destined for Dubai”. He also maintained that group chief Shah Hakim Shahzanim Zan has “made a representation to the US government and wants his name to be cleared”.
Mr Vellupilai said, “Some supply tools made by the firm were shipped to Dubai. Later we were told that the ship was on course to Iran. We had no idea since we had no hidden agenda.”
On the sanctions slapped on the group chief and the firm, he maintained that “they were not punitive sanctions and the company’s name has been cleared.” He also said the firm, which is involved in the two major projects in India, has “kept the Indian government abreast of all developments”.
Incidentally, the US state department report stated that the sanctions had been imposed under statutes that include the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act, Export Import Bank Act and Executive Order 12938. Group CEO Shah Hakim Shahzanim Zan’s name figures along with those of other individuals under the relevant statutes.