Title - Railway scam probe throws up more dirt

The CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) against the private secretary to former Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and a Railway Board Member after it dug up information on alleged  malpractices in the Railway Ministry, while probing the Rs10 crore railway scam.

The first PE has been registered against Kulbhushan, Member (Electrical) in the Railway Board. It is alleged that he relaxed norms to award a contract to a builder to develop land owned by the Railways. In the second PE, the CBI is inquiring into the role played by Rahul Bhandari, private secretary to Bansal, in influencing the transfer and posting of officers in the ministry for monetary gain.

The CBI had arrested Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla on May 3 for accepting a bribe of Rs 90 lakh to promote Mahesh Kumar, Member (Staff) of the Railway Board to the post of Member (Electrical). The amount was part payment of the Rs 10 crore bribe, allegedly demanded by Singla from Mahesh.

While probing the bribery scam, the CBI got inputs relating to the wrongdoings of Kulbhushan and Bhandari.