Ahmedabad, Feb 20 (IANS): Ten Congress party members, including the legislative party leader, Amit Chavda and prominent MLA Jignesh Mevani, were suspended from the Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday amid protests over fake government offices detected in Bodeli under the Tribal Development Department.

The suspension came after the MLAs disrupted Assembly proceedings by chanting slogans and demanding accountability for the fake Tribal Development Department offices that had been running undetected for several years.

Apart from Chavda and Mevani the other legislators suspended were Tushar Chaudhary, Geniben Thakor, Gulabsinh Chauhan, Amrutji Thakor, Anant Patel, Imran Khedawala, Kanti Kharadi and Arvind Ladani.

The row erupted during a question regarding the bogus government offices in Bodeli.

Tribal Development Minister Kuber Dindor revealed that the fake office in Bodeli was promptly shut down following its discovery, with an FIR leading to the arrest of five individuals involved in its running.

Despite the scamsters having illicitly secured approximately Rs 21 crore in government funds, Dindor assured that swift and decisive action was taken upon detection of the fraud.

Tushar Chaudhary alleged that there were more such fake offices in Chhota Udepur, implying a larger plan afoot to siphon off significant government resources.

A query from MLA Amrutji Thakor revealed that the Bodeli office had been operational since 2016-17, raising concerns that the scam had been going on for a long time.