Rly officials among 6 held in bribery case

AHMEDABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has nabbed six individuals, including five Railway officials, in connection to a bribery scam for rigging the Limited Departmental Examination of Western Railway.

The probe has reportedly revealed a cash bribe-and-gold money-laundering deal in which officials are said to be taking money from the candidates in lieu of surety of selection.

The arrested officials include Sunil Bishnoi, Senior Divisional Personnel Officer (IRPS: 2008), Vadodara Division; Ankush Wasan, Divisional Personnel Officer (IRPS: 2018), Western Railway, Vadodara; Sanjay Kumar Tiwari, Deputy Chief Commercial Manager, Church Gate, Western Railway, Mumbai; Neeraj Sinha, Deputy Station Superintendent; and Dinesh Kumar, Nursing Superintendent at Divisional Railway Hospital, Sabarmati, Ahmedabad. A private person, Mukesh Meena, has also been accused in the bribery racket.

The CBI raided 11 places, including Vadodara and Ahmedabad, and recovered Rs 5 lakh in cash, a 650-gram gold bar, electronic gadgets and incriminating documents.

It was found during the investigation that the accused officials hatched a conspiracy to receive bribes from railway staff appearing for the departmental examination. Wasan allegedly instructed Tiwari to prepare a list of at least ten candidates who were ready to pay for their selection, CBI sources said.

Consequently, Tiwari called Sinha and Meena to go out and meet candidates and take bribes. More questioning revealed that Tiwari had contacted a jeweller in Vadodara to buy about 400 grams of gold for cash, without raising an invoice. He went on to Anand to pick up cash from Meena, they added. The CBI also caught “Dinesh Kumar, who was found with 650 grams of gold bought for about Rs 57 lakh, to be delivered to Wasan”.

All six accused will be produced in front of the CBI Special Court in Bhadra, Ahmedabad.