CBI arrests DyCE/NR and two private persons in a bribery of ₹5 lakh, recovers ₹52 lakh during searches

The CBI team has taken files of ongoing construction works and projects related to Lucknow division, Northern Railway

Lucknow: The Central Bureau of Investigation (#CBI) has arrested Deputy Chief Engineer-II (IRSE 2006 batch), Northern Railways, Charbagh, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and a contractor and his son (both are bribe givers) in an alleged bribery of Rs. 5 lakh.

It was alleged that the accused demanded the bribe from the said contractor of a private company based at Kosi Kalan, (Uttar Pradesh) for showing undue favour in expeditious processing of due payments.

A case was registered on 07.11.2023 against 10 accused including public servants DyCE Harish Kumar of Northern Railway, Lucknow and private persons Virendra Kumar and Prashant Kumar – father and son.

It was alleged that the public servants DyCE/C Harish Kumar posted at Northern Railway, Hazaratganj, Lucknow entered into a conspiracy with private contractors Virendra Kumar and Prashant Kumar of M/s Tomar Construction and were showing undue favour in approving payments for variation/deviation, expeditious processing of due payments, etc. in lieu of illegal gratification.

Searches were conducted at Lucknow, Jaunpur, Kosi Kalan (Uttar Pradesh) at several premises of accused which led to recovery of Rs. 52 Lakh (approx); locker keys, electronic items and incriminating documents.

The arrested accused will be produced tomorrow before the Competent Court.

This is not the first case, even before this, #corrupt officers of #Railways have been caught by CBI, due to which #corruption has been exposed layer by layer in railway. The #Construction department of #NorthernRailway had also made headlines in December last year. On December 10, 2022, CBI conducted a raid and caught Deputy Chief Engineer Arun Kumar Mittal red handed with a bribe of fifty thousand rupees.

It is said that this action was taken on the complaint of another contractor. After this, #CBI interrogated top officials of the Construction Department, Northern Railway for several days. Whereas on June 3 this year, Alok Mishra, Deputy Chief Material Manager of the Material Department located near the Carriage and Wagon Workshop in Alambagh, was arrested by the CBI with Rs 32.10 lakh in lieu of payment of pending bills. Many of his locations were raided.

Not only this, CBI had arrested two railway officers Mukesh Kumar and Vijay Singh in Agra on February 22, 2023. They were taking a bribe of Rs 5 lakh in exchange for passing the bill. On September 12, 2023, CBI raided North Eastern Railway Headquarters, Gorakhpur and caught Principal Chief Material Manager K C Joshi taking a bribe of Rs 3 lakh.

As soon as the CBI team reached the construction department for questioning on Wednesday afternoon, the employees got scared and came out of the offices. Before the officers could understand anything, the CBI team took possession of the many files related to the construction works. After investigation for three hours, employees and officers were allowed to enter their rooms. Sources reveal that the CBI team has taken files of ongoing construction works and projects related to Lucknow division, Northern Railway.