NPCC bribery case: Court grants bail to one accused

A Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to a businessman, accused in a bribery case involving senior officials of National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC) Limited.

Special judge Sanjay Garg granted relief to Anish Baid, the owner of Shree Gautam Construction Company, on furnishing a personal bond of Rs one lakh with one surety of the same amount.

Appearing for Baid, advocate Vijay Aggarwal said his client was falsely implicated in the case and that there was no evidence against him.

The court had earlier granted bail to the company's director Binod Singhi and employee Ramesh Kumar.

The CBI had arrested seven people for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 40 lakh for clearing bills pertaining to the construction of BSF's border outposts.

The court said the accused should not leave the country without its prior permission and cooperate with the investigation.

The agency had arrested NPCC zonal manager Rakesh Mohan Kotwal, manager Latiful Pasha and five others -- Baid, Singhi, Ramesh Kumar, Kotwal's relative Sunil Kumar and Dharmendra Kumar -- in the case.

According to the agency, Sunil Kumar was caught red-handed by CBI officials while accepting Rs 25 lakh, a part of the payment of the bribe on behalf of Kotwal, from Ramesh Kumar in a hotel in the posh Safdarjung Enclave area.

After the interrogation of the two accused, the rest were arrested.