New Delhi:
CBI on Tuesday filed chargesheet in the alleged Rs 10 crore cash-for-post Railway bribery scandal before special court in New Delhi naming former railway minister PK Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla and suspended Board member Mahesh Kumar among 10 accused.
The agency filed its chargesheet before the special CBI judge Swarna Kanta Sharma naming 10 accused which include Kumar, Singla, middlemen Sandeep Goyal, Samir Sandhir, Sushil Daga, Ajay Garg, Rahul Yadav, businessman Manjunath and his two aides-PV Murali and Venugopal.
The two courier boys who delivered the bribe amount have not been named in the chargesheet. However, names of PV Murali and Venugopal have been added.
Bansal, who lost his job after the scam surfaced, was questioned at length by CBI during the course of the investigation but was not named in the chargesheet as the agency could not find any evidence of his direct involvement as of now.
The sources said if they get evidence against him, they may file a supplementary chargesheet.
Barring Murali and Venugopal, CBI has arrested all the remaining eight accused named in the charge sheet. Filing of the chargesheet by CBI on Tuesday has dimmed the hope of arrested accused to be released soon on bail.
The sources said in cases of corruption, agency had to file its charge sheet within 60 days of arrest else the accused are released on bail. The limit was expiring on Tuesday as the agency registered the case on May 3 and the next day in a surprise search operation had arrested Kumar, Singla and other middlemen.
The court is likely to take cognisance of the chargesheet on Wednesday.
CBI sources said they have been able to corroborate all the allegations levelled in the FIR registered by them and got enough evidence which points to the involvement of Kumar, Singla and other accused in the case.
In its FIR, CBI has alleged middleman Sandeep Goyal had promised Kumar to arrange the plum post of Member (Electrical) in Railway Board in return for promised Rs 10 crore, the sources said.
They said Goyal, who was in touch with Singla and another middleman Ajay Garg, was trying hard to get the post of Member Electrical post for Kumar as several lucrative projects were in the pipeline.
In the meanwhile, Kumar was appointed as Member (Staff) in the Board which is not seen a coveted posting in railway power circles, they said.
Following his appointment, Kumar allegedly approached Goyal for managing additional charge of General Manager, Western Railway and Signal and Telecommunication till he is appointed as Member (Electrical).
For this ararangement, Goyal demanded Rs. two crore as immediate payment.
CBI alleged Kumar had approached Managing Director of Bangalore-based GG Tronics India Pvt Ltd Narayan Rao Manjunath and other businessmen and industrialists dealing with the railway work for making payment in return for the promised favours from him, the sources said.
Manjunath could only arrange Rs 90 lakh of the promised Rs 2 crore, which he passed on to Goyal and Singla through delivery persons arranged by his Delhi-based confidante.
