CBI arrests 3 BSNL officials in Faridabad on bribery charge

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

The CBI has arrested Principal General Manager, Adesh Gupta; Assistant General Manager, Kamal Mewani; and JTO, Shankar Verma, all working in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Faridabad, in an alleged bribery case.

The case was registered under Section 120-B of the IPC and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, on a complaint against the accused. It was alleged that the complainant, Ashok Kumar Tomar, Meerut-based businessman was awarded work related to installation and maintenance of new broadband connection of broadband services by the office of Principal General Manager, BSNL, Faridabad, and he submitted 32 bills of Rs 7,99,877 crore for the assigned work during the period from November, 2017 to January, 2018, the CBI said.

The name of JTO is not mentioned in the FIR.

According to the CBI, Tomar in the complaint alleged that the Principal General manager demanded a bribe of Rs 51,000 for passing the bills through the Assistant General manager. However, the bribe amount was negotiated and reduced to Rs 45,000 on the request of the complainant.

The CBI laid a trap and caught the Principal General Manager, an AGM and JTO in Faridabad. The bribe amount was accepted by the AGM, who gave it to the Principal General Manager.

Searches were conducted at the residential and official premises of the accused. During search at the house of Principal General Manager, cash amounting to Rs 42,68,000 approximately, property documents pertaining to different properties at Jaipur, Noida, Ghaziabad, Delhi, Gurgaon, Gwalior etc., LIC policies of Rs1.5 crore approximately, jewellery weighing 500 gm approximately, locker keys, documents related to bank accounts and several companies had been recovered, the CBI said.