CBI arrests NALCO chief, wife

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday nabbed National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) chairman and managing director Abhay Kumar Srivastava, wife Chandni, middleman Bhushan Lal Bajaj and his wife Anita on corruption charges.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday nabbed National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) chairman and managing director Abhay Kumar Srivastava, wife Chandni, middleman Bhushan Lal Bajaj and his wife Anita on corruption charges.

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On a tip-off, a CBI team allegedly caught Chandni red-handed while receiving 3 kilogram of gold as bribe from Bajaj, who was reportedly fronting for another company based in Madhya Pradeh. “The bribe was meant as the price to clear a file of the company for which Bajaj was acting as a middleman,” said the CBI official. The trap had been laid at the Bank of Maharashtra branch at Shahjahan Road in Delhi.

Apart from the 3 kg gold, the CBI team recovered seven kilogram gold bricks from a bank locker that Chandni allegedly held in someone else's name.

“In all, 10.18 kg of gold was recovered from Srivastava and his wife, and around R29.5 lakh in cash from two bank lockers kept by them,” said the official. Of the R29.5 lakh, R5 lakh was recovered from Chandni's purse, R9.5 lakh and R15 lakh were recovered from the two lockers, respectively.

“The CMD always preferred taking bribe in gold as gold, unlike cash, never depreciated and hence was better as an investment option,” said an official.

The agency raided Srivastava's offices in Delhi and Bhubaneswar, and his home in Bhubaneswar. Srivastava was to chair a meeting of the Nalco Board of Directors on Saturday.