Central Bureau of Investigation arrests NHAI officials in bribery case

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today conducted raids in several locations of Guwahati, Shillong, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Patna, and arrested six persons, including National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials. The arrested persons were produced before the special court, Guwahati.

They were arrested in a case (RC 216/2022) related to the allegations of extending favours to GR Infraprojects, a Gurugram-based private company, for processing and clearance of bills, and release of bank guarantees etc. in lieu of illegal gratifications. It was further alleged that the company had executed a contract for road widening in Meghalaya in the year 2018 for which a discharge certificate was to be issued by NHAI after completion of four years of mandatory maintenance on 31.03.2022. It was also alleged that the NHAI officials and others had favoured the company in processing and clearance of final bills and getting bank guarantees of the company lying with NHAI released as well as discharge certificate issued by NHAI, for which bribe amount was allegedly paid.

The arrested persons are – Accounts Officer of NHAI, Dipak Das; Junior Accounts Officer Manoj Kumar, both of Regional Office, NHAI, Guwahati; and Sunil Agarwal, Pankaj Singh and Dilip Rajput, all from GR Infraprojects.

CBI laid a trap and caught the NHAI officials for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 4 lakh from an employee of the company. CBI sources said that searches were conducted in around 15 places, including Guwahati, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Shillong and Patna in the premises of the accused, which led to the recovery of incriminating materials. Cash of around Rs 2.33 crore was recovered from the premises of the Executive Director of GR Infraprojects.

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