2 Ambala railway officials held by CBI for accepting bribe

CBI investigators said that a case was registered on the complaint of a local contractor, who takes assignments in Punjab and Haryana related to different railway projects. The contractor alleged that he was given two contracts of Rs 92 lakh and Rs 1.15 crore through open tenders. After completion of the project, he had submitted revised estimates.

It was further alleged that Pawan Kumar demanded a bribe on behalf of Vivek Langayan to approve the revised estimates. The bribe demanded was 2 per cent of the gross contract value, it was alleged. The contractor lodged a complaint with the CBI at zonal headquarters, Sector 30, Chandigarh.

A CBI spokesperson said, “The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed, accepting a bribe of Rs 1,80,000 from the complainant. Raids at residential and office premises in Ambala of both the accused were conducted which led to the recovery of incriminating documents”.

Sources said that the CBI had procured voice conversations between the contractor and accused Pawan Kumar establishing the demand of bribe. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was registered against both the officers.