CBI arrests two senior govt officials in separate bribery cases

The CBI arrested two officials for demanding bribes to favor private suppliers: an auditor for the Defence Ministry and a railway chief superintendent.

MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two senior government officials, including an auditor with the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), Ministry of Defence, and a chief office superintendent at a divisional Railway Hospital, in two separate cases involving alleged demand of illegal gratification to extend favours to private suppliers, officials said on Friday.

CBI arrests two senior govt officials in separate bribery cases

In the first case, Ashokkumar Jadav, auditor (Personnel of Integrated Financial Advisor), CGDA, Gandhinagar (Gujarat), was arrested on Tuesday following a written complaint from the proprietor of a Pune-based firm trading in CCTV systems. The complainant alleged that Jadav had demanded a bribe of ₹4 lakh to clear a file related to a CCTV supply order worth ₹2.5 crore for the Indian Air Force in Pune.

Acting on the complaint, the CBI’s Pune unit registered a case on Monday under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act relating to demand of undue advantage and abetment. A trap was laid on Tuesday, and the accused was caught while demanding and accepting ₹3.5 lakh. Jadav was placed under arrest and produced before a Pune-based special court, which remanded him in CBI custody until Saturday. The agency had earlier obtained a transit remand from an Ahmedabad special court to produce him in Pune.

The agency caught Mathuraparsad at his home in Nanded while allegedly accepting ₹20,000 from the firm’s representative. He was immediately arrested. The CBI also conducted searches at the residential and official premises of both accused in connection with the cases.