CBI arrests top central railway official in Rs 1 lakh bribery case

The CBI has arrested a top official of the Central Railway (CR), his driver and the partner of a Kolkata-based private company in a Rs 1 lakh alleged bribery case.

The main suspect is Ashok Kumar Gupta, the Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer (PCME), based at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Mumbai.

Gupta's properties, investments and shares to the tune of several crores have come under the scanner.

The two other suspects are Abdul Kalam Shaikh, Technician-II, who was posted as the driver; and Aditya Tibrewal, partner, Anand Sales Corporation, Kolkata.

It was alleged that the bills of the Kolkata-based private company were pending with the mechanical department of the railway.

The PCME, CR, CSMT, Mumbai, was overall in charge of the department of CR and all tenders and work contracts related to the department were under his purview.

On specific instructions of the officer, Shaikh accepted the bribe of Rs 1 lakh on his behalf from a private firm having an office at Bandra, which in turn delivered the said bribe amount on behalf of the partner of a Kolkata-based private company.

“CBI caught the said PCME(who demanded the bribe) and his driver and also recovered the bribe amount. Later, the said partner of a Kolkata-based private company was also caught. Searches were conducted at 10 locations, including in Mumbai, Kolkata, Ghaziabad, Noida, Dehradun, and Delhi, at the premises of the accused,” a CBI press statement said.

During searches at the premises of PCME, cash to the tune of Rs 23 lakh, jewellery including diamonds worth around Rs 40 lakh have been recovered.

“Details of investments of around Rs 8 crore; land and houses at Noida, Haridwar, Dehradun and Delhi worth about more than Rs 5 crore; 3 foreign bank accounts in Singapore and USA having deposits to the tune of around $2,00,000; one NRI bank account and other bank accounts in the name of the accused and family members have been found. One bank locker has also been identified,” the CBI stated.