The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Bengaluru-based Regional Officer of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and five others, including four functionaries of a Bhopal-based private company, in an alleged bribery case.
The NHAI official has been identified as Akil Ahmad, while the other arrestees are Dilip Buildcon Limited’s general manager Retnakaran Sajilal, executive director Devendra Jain, additional general manager Mahim Pratap Singh Tomar and another employee, Sunil Kumar, besides one Anuj Gupta.
“During the searches being conducted in Delhi, Bengaluru, Cochin, Gurugram, Bhopal and other places, about ₹4 crore has been seized from the premises of private persons and ₹4 lakh from that of the Regional Officer,” said a CBI official.
It is alleged that the NHAI official was a habitual offender when it came to demanding or accepting illegal gratification from private contractors for clearing their pending bills and issuing provisional commercial operations date for completed projects.
The accused official also demanded bribe from Dilip Buildcon’s general manager, posted in Bengaluru, with respect to a project under Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway Package 1 & 2 executed by the company in Karnataka.
According to the agency, ₹20 lakh was to be delivered to Anuj Gupta in Delhi for the NHAI official. Based on the inputs, the CBI laid a trap and arrested him along with a company official. Subsequently, the other accused persons were also arrested.
