CBI arrests two Railway officials in Rail Neer scam
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested two senior Railway ministry officials and a businessman in connection with its probe into the contract for supplying packaged drinking water in trains like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi.
“The probe agency has arrested two Railways officials who were posted as chief commercial managers (catering) in Northern Railways and a director of a Delhi-based private firm. All three accused were produced before the duty magistrate at the Patiala House Courts and remanded to one-day police custody,” said a CBI spokesperson.
Officials Sandeep Silas and MS Chalia were taken into custody along with Sharan Bihari Agrawal, owner of RK Associates, after the recovery of `28 crore in cash allegedly from the latter’s premises, CBI officials said.
Both officials were immediately suspended after the CBI carried out searches at their residences on October 17.
The agency said the cases against two Railway officials and seven private companies was registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act following allegations that they had favoured private firms for the supply of cheap packaged drinking water other than Rail Neer, which is mandatory in premium trains.
According to CBI officials, the Railway Board had prescribed that the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) will provide Rail Neer at `10.50 per bottle to private caterers, who would be paid around `15 per bottle for supplying the same to passengers. But the private suppliers were allegedly supplying cheap packaged water and not Rail Neer, available in the market at a rate of `5.70 to `7 per bottle, resulting in a loss to the government exchequer.