Rail bribe scam: CBI nabbed Vijay Singla thanks to disgruntled employee

The arrest of Railway Minister Pawan Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla that has landed the scam tainted UPA government in fresh trouble, was largely due to a disgruntled insider, according to this report in the Economic Times. [caption id=“attachment_754299” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy IBN-Live[/caption] In its FIR registered against eight persons, including Singla, the CBI quoted its ‘source’ as revealing that Railway employee Mahesh Kumar had agreed to pay “illegal gratification” of Rs 10 crore via co-accused Sandeep Goyal, a businessman, for his appointment at a more lucrative post of Member (electrical) of Railway Board. The Economic Times report stated that the ‘source’ in question was a railway official who had been upset with Kumar’s efforts to secure a promotion to the post of member (electrical) on the Railway Board. His tipoff had allowed the CBI were able to put their sleuths in place and nab Sinha in the act of accepting a Rs 90 Lakh bribe. “The source has revealed that Sandeep Goyal has informed Mahesh Kumar and Manjunath (co-accused) that present Chairman, Railway Board, Vinay Mittal, would retire in June 2013 and Member (electrical), Kulbhushan, would be posted as Chairman Railway Board. Sandeep Goyal has assured that once Kulbhushan is appointed as Chairman, Railway Board, he would manage to get Mahesh Kumar appointed as Member (electrical) through his contacts in the Railway Ministry,” the CBI said in its FIR. Singla was on Saturday remanded in CBI custody for four days by a Delhi court in connection with a bribery case. The arrest of Singla and Kumar has opened a massive can of worms and comes at a time when the UPA government is already facing flak for its perceived interference in a CBI affidavit before the Supreme Court. The opposition has been demanding the removal of Railway Minister Pawan Bansal, but the Congress has decided not to oblige them for now. Read the whole Economic Times report here