CBI nabs CR official for accepting ₹10 L bribe

The CBI recovered cash and valuables worth ₹1.47 crore from his residential and official premises, while two other accused linked to the private firm, Anshul Varma and Kanay Varma, were arrested on Tuesday

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a senior officer of the Central Railway (CR) for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹10 lakh from a person associated with a private firm, towards the irregular award of a tender worth ₹40.54 crore to the firm.

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The accused, chief electrical distribution engineer Ramesh Kumar Chauve, was arrested on Monday. The CBI subsequently recovered cash and valuables worth ₹1.47 crore from his residential and official premises, while two other accused linked to the private firm, Anshul Varma and Kanay Varma, were arrested on Tuesday, investigators said.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in awarding a tender worth ₹40.54 crore to the private firm.

“Chauve, who belongs to the 2003 batch of the Indian Railway Services of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE), connived with certain stakeholders of the firm when awarding the tender. He later demanded a bribe of ₹40 lakh, which was 1% of the tender value,” a CBI officer noted.

When the CBI learned of the accused’s demand for a bribe, based on source information, it laid a trap and caught Chauve after he accepted ₹10 lakh as bribe from a person linked to the firm. While the bribe amount was recovered from his official chamber, subsequent searches at his premises led to the recovery of ₹90.79 lakh in cash, 241.30 gram gold jewellery and 2,577 gram silver jewellery worth ₹42.52 lakh, and other investment documents. Additionally, ₹3.85 lakh in cash was recovered from Chauve’s office chamber.

In all, the CBI seized cash and valuables worth ₹1.47 crore in the case, apart from purported incriminating documents whose evidentiary value is being assessed.