Corruption Crackdown: CBI Arrests 2 Govt Officials For Taking Bribery In Assam

Guwahati: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday said that four individuals, including two public servants, have been arrested in connection with an Rs 8 lakh bribery case. 

The First Information Report (FIR) against the accused public servants mentions that they were involved in corrupt and illegal activities, accepting undue advantages from various private parties and companies in exchange for extending undue favors in the procurement and awarding of contracts.

Five Public Servants Came Under CBI’s Radar

A case was registered on July 26 against five public servants, including a Controller of Stores & Purchase (COSP) at CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat; a Principal Scientist at CID, CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat; a Finance and Accounts Officer (F&AO) at CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat; a former Controller of Finance and Accounts (CoFA) currently working as CoFA at CSIR-NIScPR (National Institute of Science, Communication and Policy Research), New Delhi; and a Senior Principal Scientist at CID [Centre for Infectious Disease], CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat.

CBI laid Trap, Officials Caught Red-Handed

According to the CBI, the accused Controller of Stores & Purchase (COSP) and Finance and Accounts Officer (F&AO) allegedly discussed their bribe share, amounting to Rs 7 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively. It is also alleged that the Senior Principal Scientist indicated his expectation for a bribe from the Director of the private company for future work orders at CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat.

The accused Director reportedly informed his brother that he would be sending Rs 9 lakh to the bank account of a consultancy firm and instructed him to withdraw Rs 8 lakh in cash, with Rs 7 lakh to be delivered as a bribe to the COSP and the remaining Rs 1 lakh to be kept by himself, probe agency said. 

Subsequently, the CBI laid a trap and caught the COSP and Principal Scientist at NEIST, Jorhat, on July 24, while they were receiving undue advantages of Rs 7 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively, from the brother of the accused Director of the private company in exchange for favoring the company in awarding contracts and passing bills for the supply of a spectrophotometer and its associated software. 

The bribe amounts were recovered from the public servants, who were arrested in Jorhat along with the brother of the Director on July 26. The Director of the private company was arrested on Saturday (July 27) in Guwahati, CBI said. 

(With Inputs from ANI)