Railway bribery case: Director of Guwahati firm held in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 29 Days after it arrested a senior Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) senior official in connection with Rs 1 crore bribery scandal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday said that it has taken the director of a Guwahati-based private firm into custody in connection with the case.

The CBI arrested Pawan Baid, Director of the ABCI Infrastructures Pvt Ltd, in the case of Rs 1 crore bribe allegedly paid to the relative of Indian Railway Engineering Service officer Mahendra Singh Chauhan, who was posted as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)/Construction in the NFR in Assam's Maligaon, on January 17.

The official said that Baid was absconding since January 17 and was not joining the investigation.

"Subsequently, a non-bailable warrant was issued on January 23 against him by a Special CBI court. The CBI carried out searches at various places of hiding of Baid in Guwahati, Araria (Bihar), Siliguri, New Delhi and he was apprehended from the national capital," the official said.

The CBI has registered a case against Chauhan and others including Deputy Chief Engineer Hem Chand Borah, Assistant Executive Engineer Laxmi Kant Verma, Baid, Bhupendra Rawat, Indar Singh and other unknown persons under relevant sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

It was also alleged that some senior functionaries of the NFR were involved in corrupt practices with private contractors for the ongoing projects in the railway zone. The contractors were allegedly being facilitated in awarding of contracts, processing of subsequent bills, release of payments etc. by the functionaries in lieu of illegal gratifications.

The CBI has earlier arrested Chauhan, Borah, Verma, Singh, and Rawat in connection with the case.

During searches at multiple locations across several states, the agency has recovered Rs 4.43 crore, including the alleged bribe of Rs 1 crore.

( With inputs from IANS )