CBI finds fake DTC drivers who bribed their way in

The Raj Niwas and the Delhi government’s home department have been informed by the Central Bureau of Investigation about at least 13 drivers of DTC driving buses who have obtained licences after allegedly paying bribes to a tainted licensing officer in north Delhi.

Another batch of 17 DTC drivers are likely to be named in FIRs soon by the Delhi Police for procuring licences illegally in a separate case of 2012, sources said.

The Raj Niwas officials have forwarded the CBI note in the latest matter to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) officials and directed them to look into the alleged lapses as untrained drivers could pose a threat to commuters using the public transport buses.

According to the central agency’s letter sent on Saturday, investigations into a case of corruption at the Rohini transport authority led them to drivers who obtained licence after allegedly paying bribe to the licensing official.

“There are 13 names and it is still not known in which DTC depots have these drivers been posted,” said an official.

DTC’s senior PR manager R S Minhas said he had been asked about the issue by other people also, but he would be able to say anything on it only after collecting some information.

The Raj Niwas sources said the DTC officials have been directed to verify the details and driving skills of the drivers who have been named in the CBI list.

Officials said this was not the first time that a matter of DTC drivers with “fake” licences had come to light.

“A similar case was reported in 2012 at the Shadipur Depot in west Delhi in which 17 drivers with fake licences were caught,” said an official.

The case was investigated by the vigilance branch of the DTC.

During the probe, whose report was submitted recently, it was found that the depot manager had wrongly certified that a driver had got a licence from a transport authority in Mathura, whereas there is no authority in that city.

The vigilance probe also found that some other drivers indulged in wrongdoings to procure licences from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

“All the 17 drivers and a depot manager were found guilty of lapses in the vigilance inquiry,” said a DTC official.

Now, the DTC authorities have sent a copy of their vigilance report to the Delhi Police and sought registration of FIRs against the accused, a transport department official said.