(File Photo of Mahesh Kumar)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today seized files and documents from the Railways Ministry related to the additional charge of General Manager, Western Railways, recently given to official Mahesh Kumar. The Railway official is already in custody after he was arrested five days ago with Rs 90 lakhs meant as a bribe for Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew for another plum posting in the Railway Board.
The CBI suspects that there might have been a deal in giving the post of GM, Western Railways, to Mr Kumar, considered to be a very lucrative one.
A two-month investigation by the CBI had led to the arrest of Mr Bansal's nephew, Vijay Singla, and Mr Kumar last week. An associate, an industrialist named Ajay Garg, surrendered in a Delhi court yesterday.
Rs 90 lakhs, alleges the CBI, was only part of a Rs. 10-crore payoff that was to have secured for Mr Kumar, a member (staff) of the Railway Board, a transfer as member (electrical), a position with the power to transfer people and award contracts of signal and telecom.
The CBI, sources said, now wants to find out where the money came from and who in the Railways was meant to have influenced the posting for Mr Kumar, now suspended. And who all would have shared the alleged bribe. The agency raided Mahesh Kumar's residence in Mumbai yesterday. Press Trust of India reported that it recovered property documents and diamond jewellery of "substantial value".
Yesterday, a federation of rail officers yesterday wrote to the Cabinet Secretary suggesting that the Mahesh Kumar incident is not an exception. The three-page letter, which NDTV accessed, alleges that rules are changed for appointments and promotions in the railways and senior positions are kept vacant for long durations deliberately.
The BJP wants Mr Bansal to resign. It has been stalling Parliament and has staged protests outside the minister's homes in Delhi and Chandigarh.
The government has so far resolutely said Mr Bansal will not resign. There is intense speculation now on whether the minister will be questioned by the CBI; sources in the agency said they have gathered "substantial evidence" after intercepting and recording over a 1000 phone calls.