New Delhi, July 2 (PTI): The CBI has arrested a Kochi-based chief engineer of the Military Engineering Services and five others and recovered an alleged bribe of INR 1.21 crore, officials said here today.
Searches were conducted in 20 locations, including the home of Rakesh Kumar Garg, who is posted as chief engineer (naval works) MES in Kochi, they said.
The raids, which began yesterday, covered several cities, including Delhi, Kochi, Ajmer and Kolkata.
During the searches, an additional recovery of INR 3.97 rore and six kilograms of gold biscuits was made by the agency, the sources said.
The searches were made after the agency received inputs that Garg was “collecting and demanding illegal gratification of 1 per cent of contract amount from the contractors for issuing various civil contracts in the Kochi naval base”, officials said.
Garg allegedly demanded INR 83 lakh from a Kolkata-based builder, Pushkar Bhasin, and INR 89 lakh from Ajmer-based builder Praful Jain, who had jointly won a contract worth INR 177.33 crore in April this year for constructing accommodation for sailors in Mundamveli, Kochi.
While Bhasin had already handed INR 83 lakh to Khanna, Praful Jain arranged INR 38 lakh through a relative in Ajmer, Subodh Jain, the FIR said.
The agency arrested the accused after recovering INR 1.21 crore when the alleged bribe was being exchanged, officials said.
It was also alleged that a conduit, Kochi contractor Kanav Khanna, was receiving bribes on his behalf.
It is learnt that the bribe money is usually handed over to Kanav Khanna through hawala route and through direct payment by private contractors, the agency has alleged.
The illicit money was initially parked in Khanna’s home. He then transferred it to the residence of Garg’s brother Sanjeev Kumar Agarwal, either himself or through his associates, it said.
