Ambala | CBI arrests two railway officials for accepting bribe

Langayan, a 2010-batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers, the prestigious Group ‘A’ cadre of the Indian Railways, and Kumar were caught red-handed while accepting the bribe after a trap was laid, the CBI said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested two railway officials, including a divisional engineer, for allegedly seeking a bribe of ₹1.8 lakh from a contractor for approving his revised estimates.

A CBI team started conducting its searches at the residences and offices of both the accused in Ambala on Tuesday which continued till Wednesday. (HT File)

The accused, senior divisional signal and telecommunication engineer Vivek Langayan and chief office superintendent Praween Kumar, were posted at the office of the divisional railway manager (DRM) at Railway Colony in Ambala Cantonment.

Langayan, a 2010-batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE), the prestigious Group ‘A’ cadre of the Indian Railways, and Kumar were caught red-handed while accepting the bribe after a trap was laid, the CBI said.

A CBI team started conducting its searches at the residences and offices of both the accused in Ambala on Tuesday which continued till Wednesday.

The central agency said that the searches have led to the recovery of “incriminating documents.” A case was registered at the anti-corruption branch of the CBI in Chandigarh.

The bureau, in a statement, said the contractor was awarded two contracts worth ₹92 lakh and ₹1.15 crore through open tenders, and after completion of the projects, he had submitted revised estimates.

“The chief office superintendent demanded bribe in lieu of approval of revised estimates, which was 2% of the gross contract value, on behalf of the senior divisional signal and telecommunication engineer,” the bureau said.

CBI spokesperson Ramesh Chandra Joshi said, “Both the accused were presented before a CBI court in Panchkula on Wednesday and sent to three-day remand.”

On being reached out for a comment, DRM Gurinder Mohan Singh said that an intimation was sent to the office of general manager, Northern Railways, New Delhi, about the case.

“A departmental action of deemed suspension will be taken by the general manager as per the norms. An official order will be released by his office in a day or two,” the DRM told the HT.

According to the ministry of personnel, pensions and public grievances, a government servant shall be deemed to be placed under suspension by an order of appointing authority with effect from the date of his detention, if he is detained in custody, whether on a criminal charge or otherwise, for a period exceeding 48 hours.

Chief public relations officer of the Northern Railway, Deepak Kumar said that the suspension is under process.