Senior bureaucrat Radheshyam Mopalwar was removed as the managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday. He said the decision has been taken after considering the charges of corruption levelled against Mopalwar.

“I had already announced a probe on Wednesday on all alleged charges of corruption leveled by opposition against Mopalwar. All these issues raised were during the Congress and NCP regime,” Fadnavis told the assembly.

Mopalwar will no longer be in charge of the Rs 46,000 crore Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Corridor project, Fadnavis said. The chief minister said the allegations raised by the Opposition relates to projects approved during the Congress NCP government. Mpalwar was always given good posting under the previous regime, he claimed.

On Wednesday, Fadnavis ordered a probe to look into the allegations raised by the Opposition and promised to take strict action if Mopalwar was found to be guilty.

Fadnavis said: “The state government will conduct a thorough investigation within a month. If the charges against the bureaucrat are established, strictest action would be taken. There was no question of shielding anybody for any wrong-doing.”

Recorded CDs that were provided by the Opposition leaders in support of their charges would be sent to forensic laboratory to ascertain the authenticity of the voices in those and match the data.

The CDs contain purported phone recordings of Mopalwar demanding bribes. NCP’s former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had said: “There is an audio recording (CD) where Mopalwar is clearly engaged in a dialogue with an individual demanding bribe to regularise the 15,000 sq ft land deal in Borivali. There are 36 such recorded data where Mopalwar is clearly heard doing the negotiation.”