New Delhi, 25 July (H.S.): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the Deputy Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer of South Eastern Railway's Chakradharpur Division after allegedly catching him red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹4 lakh at Howrah Railway Station. Two representatives of Kolkata-based private firm MRT Signals Limited have also been arrested in connection with the case. The railway official is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for extending undue favours in matters related to contracts.

According to the CBI, the case, registered on Friday, alleges that Deputy Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer Satyam Kumar entered into a criminal conspiracy with representatives of MRT Signals Limited, Kolkata, and demanded illegal gratification in return for extending undue favours in official matters. These allegedly included approving the Price Variation Clause (PVC), the contract variation file, and other official work related to the signal and telecommunication projects being executed by the company in the Chakradharpur Division.

The investigation further revealed that the accused official had already accepted a bribe of ₹5 lakh in May in connection with the same matter. He subsequently demanded an additional ₹4 lakh as the remaining amount. Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and caught the official red-handed while accepting ₹4 lakh from the company's representatives at Howrah Railway Station. The entire bribe amount was recovered and seized from the spot.

The arrested accused have been identified as Satyam Kumar, Deputy Chief Signal and Telecommunication Engineer, South Eastern Railway, Chakradharpur Division; Subrata Chakraborty, representative of MRT Signals Limited; and Raju Pandit, another representative of the company.

The CBI also conducted searches at the residential and office premises of the accused in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar, during which several incriminating documents and digital evidence were seized. All the accused are being produced before the competent court.

The CBI said this is its first trap operation in a bribery case in West Bengal in several years. The investigation is continuing.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar