New Delhi: CBI has registered four cases - one in Karnataka and three in Tamil Nadu - in connection with alleged under-reporting of actual weight of loaded goods wagons through manipulation of software by Railway officials in what is suspected to be a Rs 4,000 crore scam.
Sources said a case has been registered against unknown officials of Southern Railway, Mangalore and other private firm in the matter of manipulating the in-motion weigh bridge installed at Panambur Yard of Southern Railway by modifying the software programme causing a wrongful loss of around Rs 20.72 crore to Indian Railways and corresponding gain to themselves.
Similarly, three cases pertaining to the alleged fraud in the installation of Railway Inmotion Electronic Weigh bridges in Tamil Nadu -- Trichy, Tuticorin and Salem -- have also been registered, they said.
"At Trichy...It was alleged that these manipulations had taken place during the period from 2012 to 2014 and 64 rakes of goods trains were overloaded and sent by a private company who was a bulk transporter of cement," a CBI official said.
He said another case was registered pertaining to the alleged fraud committed by a private company which installed the equipment at Melivattan village in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin.
"It was further alleged that a private company which was a bulk transporter had got several tones of excess goods transported using the same modus operandi," the official said.
The sources said the third case was registered pertaining to the alleged fraud committed by a private transporter company in connivance with the weigh bridge equipment installation company at Salem in Tamil Nadu.
"It was further alleged that the fraud had occurred since 2011 and several rakes had been found to carry excess weight causing loss to the Railways," the official said.
