CBI arrests NHIDCL executive director in Rs 10 lakh bribery case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested the Executive Director and the Regional Officer of the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), Regional Office, Guwahati, while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from a private person, according to an official press release. The CBI registered the instant case, based on source information, against the Executive Director and Regional Officer of NHIDCL, Regional Office, Guwahati, and two representatives of a private company. CBI laid a trap on October 14 and caught the accused Executive Director and one private person while the public servant was accepting bribe of Rs 10 lakh from the private person for issuance of favourable extension of time (EOT) and Completion Certificate of the work performed by the private company about the contract of 4-Laning of National Highway-37 between Demow to End of Moran Bypass besides other contracts in the State of Assam. Searches were conducted at seven office and residential premises of the accused persons at different locations throughout India. During the searches at the premises of the accused public servant, Cash of Rs. 2.62 crores has been seized. Further investigation revealed the acquisition of properties, namely 9 landed properties and 20 apartments, throughout India, in the names of a public servant and his family members. Moreover, documents about the purchase of high-end vehicles in the name of a public servant have also been recovered. Further verification of the immovable/movable properties of the accused public servant is in progress. Both the arrested accused persons will be produced in the Court of Special Judge, CBI Cases, Guwahati, today.
BJP faces storm as party worker accuses prominent leader of amassing Rs 100 cr in assets
A senior woman leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, who is also a lawyer by profession, has been accused of acquiring property worth more than Rs 100 cr ($120 million), triggering turmoil within the party’s state unit. The complaint, unusually, has not come from the opposition but from within the BJP itself. A party worker from Howrah has filed petitions with India’s federal investigative agencies – including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Income Tax Department – demanding a probe into the source of the leader’s wealth. Copies of the complaint were also sent to BJP’s national president, J.P. Nadda. According to the complaint, the BJP leader and a close relative allegedly purchased multiple high-value properties despite declaring significant debt in earlier election affidavits. The documents cited by the complainant claim the leader owed over 7 million rupees in loans during the 2021 elections but has since acquired luxury flats worth several crore rupees. Her relative is accused of buying properties exceeding 10 billion rupees. The allegations raise suspicions of tax evasion and money laundering, the complainant wrote, urging investigators to determine whether the acquisitions were influenced by the leader’s political position or protected by senior figures within the party. The controversy quickly spilled into the public domain after Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh posted on social media that he had received a copy of the complaint. “If true, I hope central agencies will take appropriate action,” he wrote, while stressing that he had not verified the claims. The BJP has not officially responded, but the accusations have caused unease within its ranks, exposing rifts in a party already struggling to consolidate itself in West Bengal, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress remains dominant. For the BJP, which has positioned itself as a crusader against corruption, the allegations strike at its credibility, particularly since they involve one of its more visible faces in the state.
CBI questions TMC lawmaker Sudipto Roy in RG Kar Medical College corruption probe
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday visited the residence of Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Sudipta Roy in Kolkata’s Sinthee area as part of its ongoing probe into alleged corruption at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. According to sources, two CBI officers arrived at Roy’s house in the afternoon to question him. However, the Shrirampur MLA was not present at the time. Officials are expected to record his statement once he returns. Roy, who once headed the hospital’s Patients’ Welfare Committee, has been under the agency’s scrutiny for several months. In September last year, CBI’s anti-corruption wing had raided his residence. Opposition leaders, including BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, have accused Roy of diverting hospital equipment to his private nursing home – a charge the lawmaker has strongly denied. Speaking earlier, Roy said his nursing home was established in 1984 and grew during the Left Front era. “Anyone can visit and verify for themselves. The allegations are baseless,” he maintained. The renewed CBI action comes against the backdrop of last year’s brutal rape and murder of a woman doctor inside RG Kar Medical College. Her body was discovered in a bloodied state in a seminar hall on the morning of August 9, 2024. A civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy, was arrested that night. The incident triggered outrage across West Bengal and led to the removal of Sudipta Roy as chair of the hospital’s welfare panel, with senior TMC leader Shantanu Sen appointed in his place. The investigation into both the murder and the hospital’s alleged irregularities continues to place pressure on the ruling TMC, already grappling with a series of corruption scandals.
CBI arrests six policemen in J&K over custodial torture of colleague
India’s federal investigation agency on Wednesday arrested six police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, in connection with the alleged custodial torture of a constable in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The arrests, which also include an inspector, an assistant sub-inspector and a special police officer (SPO), came weeks after the Supreme Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a case into what it described as “brutal and inhuman” torture. The court said the constable had been illegally detained and subjected to electric shocks and assault on his genitalia, calling the injuries “life-debilitating” and the abuse “egregious.” On July 21, the top court directed the CBI to register a case and ordered the union territory administration to pay the victim 5 million rupees ($60,000) in compensation. The accused officers have been directed to hand over their weapons and government-issued articles to district police lines, the officials said. The SPO has also been dismissed from service. Further investigation is under way, they added.
TMC MP Kirti Azad Seeks CBI, ED Probe into ‘Systemic’ Corruption in Eastern Coalfields, BJP ridicules TMC MP
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kirti Azad has written to Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy demanding a comprehensive investigation by federal agencies into what he described as “pervasive and systemic corruption” within Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited operating in West Bengal and Jharkhand. In the letter dated July 31, Azad expressed “deep concern” over a series of alleged financial and operational irregularities in ECL’s mining zones, including Kunustoria, Kajora, Pandaveswar, and Rajmahal. He urged immediate intervention by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), citing what he called an entrenched “criminal nexus” involving ECL officials and external contractors. The former cricketer-turned-MP, who also heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers, said he was approached by whistleblowers and NGOs who flagged large-scale bid rigging, coal pilferage, grade manipulation, and loss-making contracts that have drained public resources. Azad accused a cartel of 14 companies, all allegedly registered at a single address and controlled by two individuals, of monopolizing the tender process through collusion with ECL officials. These firms, he claimed, had formed a “one-man cartel” that dominates procurement, mining, transportation, and coal sales across multiple collieries. The letter further referred to a suspected coal pilferage racket centered in West Bengal’s Kunustoria and Kajora mining regions that, according to Azad, caused losses amounting to Rs 1,300 crore. He noted that hawala transactions and the arrest of seven ECL officials, including general managers and security staff, pointed to a wider institutional failure. Citing a recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, Azad highlighted irregularities in contractor payments due to coal shortages during transportation, resulting in a loss of Rs 17.39 crore. He also alleged that officers were deliberately downgrading high-grade coal to lower grades to benefit private contractors. Azad’s letter also named Ambey Mining Private Limited as a central player in the alleged wrongdoing. He accused the firm’s top executives of bribing officials and manipulating tender norms in violation of Central Vigilance Commission guidelines. “The depth and breadth of these issues point not to sporadic corruption, but to an entrenched criminal nexus,” Azad wrote. He emphasized that only a federal investigation could restore accountability and public faith in ECL’s operations. The letter was also marked to the secretaries of the Coal and Mines Ministry, the ED, the CBI, and the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of ECL. Reacting to the development, BJP MP and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar took a swipe at Azad and the TMC, saying on X (formerly Twitter): “At last TMC MPs have also started demanding investigation by central agencies like CBI & ED. This letter of MP Kirti Azad shows that he has lost faith in West Bengal Police.” He also noted that many of the individuals named in Azad’s complaint were allegedly close to Narendra Nath Chakraborty, the TMC district president of Paschim Burdwan. Eastern Coalfields Limited has not issued an official response. The Coal Ministry has also not commented on whether it will recommend a federal probe.
India’s CBI Court Frames Charges Against Former Hospital Head in Corruption Case
KOLKATA, July 14: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Alipore has framed charges against five accused, including the former principal of Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, in a multi-crore corruption case involving alleged irregularities in medical procurement and tender allocations. The accused—Dr. Sandeep Ghosh, Afzar Ali, Biplab Singh, Suman Hazra, and Ashish Pandey—are facing charges under sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467, 468 (forgery), and section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. All five are currently in judicial custody. The trial is scheduled to begin on July 22. The investigation was launched following a directive from the Calcutta High Court after allegations surfaced of large-scale financial misconduct over a span of more than three years at the state-run hospital. The chargesheet, filed on November 29 last year, accuses the former principal of facilitating tenders for close associates, bypassing due process. According to a former deputy superintendent of the hospital, multiple instances of procurement fraud were reported, where tenders for medical equipment and supplies were allegedly manipulated to favor specific vendors. Dr. Ghosh was the first to be arrested in connection with the case after being summoned multiple times by the CBI for questioning. The other four accused were taken into custody in the months that followed. The corruption scandal gained further public attention after a separate but related incident last August, when the body of a postgraduate medical student was found in the hospital’s emergency department seminar hall. A civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy, was arrested and later sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and murder. During the investigation, the CBI also detained Dr. Ghosh and former Tala police station officer-in-charge Abhijit Mondal for allegedly attempting to tamper with evidence. They were granted bail in that case last December. However, Dr. Ghosh remains behind bars in connection with the corruption charges. The case has underscored growing concerns over governance and accountability in public healthcare institutions in West Bengal.
