Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The CBI on Tuesday filed chargesheet against ten accused in the Railway bribery case. Former Railway minister`s nephew has been named in the chargesheet, though Pawan Kumar Bansal has been given a clean chit.
CBI sources said they have concluded this case and did not find "prosecutable evidence" against Bansal.
The agency had grilled Bansal for nearly six hours in connection with the case.
No more chargesheet would be filed in this case in which Singla was arrested for allegedly taking Rs 89.68 lakh as part payment of Rs 10 crore promised bribe from Kumar, the agency said.
The special CBI court is likely to take cognisance of the charge sheet tomorrow.
Bansal had to quit after it came to light that his nephew Vijay Singla had allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 90 lakhs from a Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar for being appointed to the post of member (electrical).
The sources, however, added that role of Bansal was still under the scanner in a separate inquiry relating to alleged favours given in promotions and postings in the ministry during his tenure. Bansal`s PA Rahul Bhandari has been named as suspect in the inquiry.
In its chargesheet filed before Special CBI Judge Swarna Kanta Mishra here, CBI has alleged that Singla had demanded Rs 10 crore from Kumar, who was recently elevated as Member (Staff) of Railway Board, for shifting him to his choice post of Member (Electrical), the sources said.
It was decided that the money would be given in instalments of Rs two crore, Rs three crore after appointment as Member (Electrical) and the rest after six months, CBI has alleged.
CBI alleged the deal was struck through Ajay Garg and
Sandeep Goyal who were both acting as middlemen whereas Kumar had entrusted Managing Director of Bangalore based G G Tronics India Pvt Limited, Manjunath for arranging the money and getting it delivered to Singla and Goyal through hawala route.
"Initial instalment of Rs two crore was again decided to be delivered in two instalments i.e. Rs one crore on May 3, 2013 and another Rs one crore after 3-4 days of first delivery," CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said here today.
Manjunath could arrange nearly Rs 90 lakh for the first instalment which was to be paid to Goyal and Singla on May 3, 2013 at the latter`s premises in Chandigarh on behalf of Kumar, the sources said.
CBI, which was keeping a tab on the activities of the accused through their phone surveillance, got to know of the plan and caught the duo red-handed with the money.
The agency has charged 10 persons for alleged violation of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Besides Kumar, Singla, Manjunath, Goyal and Garg, the other alleged accused are Rahul Yadav, Samir Sandhir, Sushil Daga, CV Venugopal and MV Murali Krishan.
Barring Murali and Venugopal, CBI has arrested all the remaining eight
accused named in the charge sheet.
Filing of the charge sheet has dimmed the hope of arrested accused to be released soon on bail.
It had been reported earlier that the CBI was trying to file a chargesheet in the railway bribery case by July 3 and was awaiting sanction from the ministry to prosecute key accused Mahesh Kumar. Central Bureau of Investigation director Ranjit Sinha had told reporters the agency would try to meet the deadline of filing the formal set of charges within 60 days.
Singla and Mahesh Kumar were booked as main conspirators in the bribery case in which eight more people were been arrested. Mahesh Kumar, posted as Railway Board member (staff), was arrested May 3 while Singla was arrested May 4.
With PTI inputs
