CBI arrests railway official, six others in bribery case

The ADRM identified as Jitender Pal Singh was allegedly accused of showing undue favours to private contractors while awarding agreements, preparing measurement book, processing running account bills, release payment against pending bills early for the ongoing construction work in North East Frontier Railway, said the people.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested seven people, including an additional divisional railway manager (ADRM) for allegedly accepting bribes worth ₹50 lakh in Guwahati, people in the know of the matter said on Sunday.

The federal agency has recovered cash worth ₹47 lakh during raids on Sunday. (HT)

The ADRM identified as Jitender Pal Singh was allegedly accused of showing undue favours to private contractors while awarding agreements, preparing measurement book, processing running account bills, release payment against pending bills early for the ongoing construction work in North East Frontier Railway, said the people.

Apart from Singh, a hawala operator, a private contractor and an individual who acted as middleman among others have also been arrested. The federal agency has recovered cash worth ₹47 lakh during raids on Sunday.

Confirming his arrest, CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said: “A case was registered against Singh and other people including contractors etc. The accused had allegedly entered into a conspiracy with the intention of showing undue favours to the private contractors for awarding of contract agreements, preparation of measurement book, processing of running account bills, early release of payment against pending bills and for the ongoing work of construction in North East Frontier Railway as well as for early release of security deposit and bank guarantees”.

“... Singh was habitual of demanding and accepting undue advantage from various contractors while being posted as chief engineer, construction, New Jalpaiguri. A contractor was facilitating the delivery of the bribe to him through an acquaintance in Delhi,” Joshi said.

The agency laid a trap on Sunday and caught an acquaintance of Singh while accepting a bribe of ₹50 lakh on his behalf, which was delivered through a hawala channel. Subsequently, Singh and other people involved were also caught.

Besides Singh, those arrested have been identified as: Shyamal Kumar Deb (contractor who arranged the money), Hari Om (Singh’s acquaintance), Yogendra Kumar Singh (Hari Om’s driver), Dilawar Khan (a cashier at a hawala shop), Vinod Kumar Singhal (owner of hawala shop) and Sanjeet Ray (a cashier at hawala shop).

The CBI raided premises of Singh, and other accused persons in Delhi, Narora, Guwahati, Siliguri and Aligarh. Cash worth ₹47 lakh, laptops and several incriminating documents were recovered from the accused’s premises during the raid, Joshi said.