Guwahati, 12 June (HS): Taking action against corruption in educational institutions, the CBI has arrested a senior professor of North-Eastern Hill University (Nehu) and a businessman from Guwahati red handed while taking a bribe of ₹3.43 lakh.

The arrested professor has been identified as Nirmalendu Saha, who is working as Dean of School of Life Sciences and Professor in Zoology Department at Nehu. Along with him, businessman Pranjal Sharma of Beltala, Guwahati was also arrested, who is the owner of a supply firm and is said to be co-accused in the case.

The CBI had received concrete information about irregularities in contracts related to the supply of scientific equipment and lab material. The investigating agency says that the professor and the businessman were jointly influencing the contracts and bribes were being taken in exchange for the clearance of bills.

The official statement issued by the CBI on Thursday said, The accused private person, who is the owner of a supply firm, conspired with the professor of Nehu to influence the supply orders and obtain illegal benefits in return. Some unknown people may also be involved in the case.

The bribe amount was recovered during a trap operation conducted at the Guwahati University Guest House and both the accused were immediately arrested. After this, the CBI has raided two locations and seized incriminating documents, while the search at the third location is continuing till the last information is received.

Both the arrested accused were produced in a Guwahati court on Thursday. The CBI said that the scope of the investigation is now being expanded further and the role of other people associated with Nehu is also being investigated.

According to sources, other officials associated with the university may also be called for questioning in the coming days, as the investigation has indicated a wide network of corruption.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash