New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an Assistant Engineer (AE) of the Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi, along with a representative of a private construction firm and one of the firm’s employees, in connection with a bribery racket involving the execution of government construction projects, officials said on Tuesday.
The arrested persons have been identified as Roop Singh Meena, Assistant Engineer with the Public Works Department (PWD); Sanjay Kaura, representative of M/s Kaura Construction Company, Rohini; and Vikram Kumar, an employee of the construction firm.
According to the CBI, the case was registered on Monday, July 27 against the three accused following allegations that the PWD official had been misusing his position to grant undue official favours to a government contractor associated with M/s Kaura Construction Company, based in Rohini, Delhi.
Investigators alleged that the Assistant Engineer facilitated favours related to various construction works awarded by the PWD in return for illegal gratification from the contractor. The bribes were paid regularly through multiple channels, including via an employee of the private firm, as part of a criminal conspiracy, they alleged.
The agency said that on July 27, the representative of the construction company instructed one of his employees to deliver Rs 21 lakh in cash to the Assistant Engineer at his residence in Pitampura, Delhi.
Acting on specific inputs, the CBI conducted a raid at the residence of the accused PWD official and allegedly recovered the entire Rs 21 lakh that had been delivered by the firm’s employee.
During subsequent searches, investigators also seized Rs 15.50 lakh in cash and various incriminating documents from the residence of the Assistant Engineer.
Searches carried out at the residence of the representative of M/s Kaura Construction Company led to the recovery of Rs 46.75 lakh in cash, along with documents that the agency described as incriminating.
The arrests were made after the recovery of the cash and the collection of material evidence, the CBI said.
Further investigation is underway to ascertain the extent of the alleged corruption network.
–IANS
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