Lt. Col. held as CBI busts Army transfer racket

The bribe was being paid through hawala channels, the CBI alleged in its FIR

The CBI arrested an Army officer and a middleman in connection with a transfer racket at the Army headquarters in which officers allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to manipulate their postings.

According to sources Lt. Col. Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the personnel division of the Army, and middleman Gaurav Kohli were arrested while an alleged bribe of `2 lakh was changing hands for the transfer of a Bengalurubased officer.

The CBI busted the racket involving senior Army officers posted at its headquarters here. They were allegedly giving choice postings for “huge illegal gratification” which ran into lakhs for a single transfer, sources said. “Searches were conducted at the premises, including the residence of arrested accused and others in New Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram which led to recovery of cash over `10 lakh (approximately) and incriminating documents and other articles,” CBI

Spokesperson R.K. Gaur said.

The case has been registered against Lt. Col. Moni, Purshottam —-a Hyderabad-based Army officer, Bengaluru-based barracks and stores officer (BSO) S. Subhas and alleged middleman Gaurav Kohli. The bribe was being paid through hawala channels, the agency alleged in its FIR. The agency is also probing how Army officers were ready to pay lakhs of rupees to get a posting of their choice.

There are allegations that Lt. Col. Moni entered into a criminal conspiracy with Mr Kohli and Purshottam. Purshottam allegedly contacted Army officers who were either posted in different field formations or faced imminent transfer and were desirous of getting posted to their preferred locations. He used to contact Mr Kohli, who was close to senior officers in the personnel division of the Army headquarters here.