CBI books 5 armymen in graft case

NEW DELHI: The CBI has booked five army personnel, including a colonel, for allegedly receiving bribes worth ~18 lakh from a supplier of rations for troops posted in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, officials said Wednesday.

This is the second case in the recent past when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against army officers for corruption in supplies.

In the latest case, the CBI has registered an FIR against colonel Raman Dahda, lieutenant colonel Mahendra Kumar, subedar Devender Kumar, havildar Abhay Singh, subedar Sahuran Sahu and supplier KK Yangfo for criminal conspiracy.

Dahda was the then commanding officer of the 556 Army Supply Corps and Mahendra Kumar a platoon commander.

They have been also booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. It is alleged that the officers received ~18 lakh in cash from civilian contractors in regard to procurement of fresh and dry rations for troops deployed in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The action was taken on the basis of a complaint from the army. It is alleged that Dahda misused his official position and received ~4.15 lakh from supplier Yangfo through two transactions in the account Dahda’s father.

According to the complaint, Mahender Kumar, who was responsible for quality check, misused his official position and took ~1 lakh as bribe.

Devender allegedly took a bribe of ~2.04 lakh, Abhay ~98,000 and Sahuran ~7.65 lakh in three transactions from Yangfo.

Yangfo, a civilian contractor in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang, supplied ration for the army between 2015 and 2017.