The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an Executive Director of the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and five officials of the Noida-based Tata Projects Limited on bribery charge in connection with some work contracts in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
Those arrested were B.S. Jha, PGCIL Executive Director from Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh; and Tata Project's executive vice-president Desh Raj Pathak, assistant vice-president R. N. Singh, regional project manager Nafeej Hussain Khan and two other employees, Randheer Kumar Singh and Sandeep Kumar Dubey.
The company has also been named as an accused in the case registered on the basis of source information.
The agency has alleged that Mr. Jha conspired with others to extend favours to the company for various works, including preparation of inflated bills, early clearing of the bills and the price variation clause related to the PGCIL contracts in lieu of illegal gratification. Tata Projects had bagged the PGCIL tenders related to a comprehensive scheme for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
Cash seized
Based on the findings, the CBI launched an operation and arrested the six accused. Subsequent searches in Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad resulted in the seizure of ₹93 lakh in cash allegedly from the public servant's residence, digital devices and documents. The accused were produced before a special court which remanded them in the agency's custody till July 15.
“It is likely that investigations in the case may lead to detection of some other instances of corruption allegedly involving the PGCIL Executive Director,” said an official.
