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CBI busts ‘bribery nexus’ in RDSO; FIRs lodged
The agency received information that some officers and employees, in connivance with other senior officers of the department, were allegedly taking bribes for clearing pending bills of firms
LUCKNOW The CBI’s Anti-Corruption Bureau busted a bribery nexus in RDSO’s finance & accounts division in Lucknow after receiving information that some officers and employees, in connivance with other senior officers of the department, were allegedly taking bribes for clearing pending bills of firms.
The agency registered three FIRs against officers/employees of RDSOs division and three firms of Lucknow and Noida for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices under different sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC section 120-B for criminal conspiracy.
The CBI slapped IPC section as the alleged malpractice happened before July 1, 2024, when the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) was made effective. Officials confirmed that CBI teams carried out searches at offices and residential locations of suspected officials, employees and others in Lucknow and Noida on Wednesday.
A senior CBI official said the first FIR was lodged against RDSO (Lucknow) employees, including senior accounts officer Arpit Asthana, accounts assistant Abdul Latif and his brother Abdul Karim Siddiqui, director of Noida-based firm M/S ADJ Engineering Private Limited Manish Kumar Pandey and his firm as well as other unknown persons. The FIR stated that Latif indulged in corrupt and illegal activities in connivance with Arpit Asthana and other unknown officers of the finance and accounts division of RDSO, demanding and accepting undue advantage from private parties who applied for approval of some tender or whose bills were pending for payments from RDSO Lucknow.
As per the FIR, Abdul Latif accepted bribes in cash either directly or in the bank account of his brother Abdul Karim Siddiqui. His brother used to transfer the bribe amount to the account of Abdul Latif or sometimes hand over the same in cash.
The second FIR was registered against two brothers Abdul Latif and Abdul Karim Siddiqui, proprietor of Industrial Corporation Works of Lucknow, Abhinav Sinha and his firm and other unknown government servants for demanding and accepting undue advantage from private parties.
Another FIR was registered against the two brothers as well as a junior assistant accountant Nasir Hussain for having connivance with them as well as the owner of Noida-based firm M/s Puri Electronics Private Limited, Ashok Puri, his firm and his firm’s accountant Vishal Sharma and other unknown persons. When contacted, RDSO (Lucknow) executive director Naveen Sharma refused to comment on the issue.
