Railway official caught burning Rs 2.5 lakhs bribe money

The accused Ashok Mangal, posted as divisional financial officer, Bikaner, was under surveillance of the RPF for some time for his links with accounts assistant Mujaffar Ali Bohra, who allegedly made cheque payments of Rs 2.5 crore in their own favour from the Railways accounts.

Mangal was later produced in a court which remanded him in Railway Protection Force (RPF) custody for five days.

The force has registered a case against Mangal and Bohra under various sections of Railway Property and Unlawful Possession Act, 1966.

Bohra, who was suspended and is absconding, made the payments when Mangal was posted in Ajmer a year ago and the RPF was investigating the embezzlement charges against him, North-Western Railway, CPRO, Lalit Bohra said.

Yesterday, a jawan keeping a watch near Mangal's house noticed smoke at the backside of the residence and upon rushing there found Mangal, who had suspected that his activities were being observed, burning the currency notes.

"Rs. 2.5 lakh were burnt by the officer and Rs 1.5 lakh unburnt cash was seized. It is suspected that the amount he burnt could be high than the estimated amount," a RPF official said.

The matter is being investigated, he added.