Title - Bribery case: CBI questions Railway Board chairman

New Delhi:
The CBI recorded the statement of Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal in connection with the alleged bribery scandal involving former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla and former board member Mahesh Kumar.CBI sources said Mittal was examined for around three hours last evening and was asked about Mahesh Kumar’s promotion from General Manager (West) to the board and also about allowing him to retain additional charge of Western Railway even after his elevation.Sources said Mittal was not an accused in the case registered by the agency on May 3. Singla and Kumar are the main accused in the case.Bansal had to resign as the Union Railway Minister earlier this month after his nephew and a few other persons were arrested by the CBI in a case involving alleged payment of bribe for fixing a top Railway Board position.The case relates to reported aspirations of Kumar for his elevation as Member (Electrical) in the Railway Board for which he allegedly contacted Goyal, a close associate of Singla. Goyal allegedly demanded Rs 10 crore for the job.Kumar was in between elevated from GM (West) to Member (Staff) in Railway Board, a post which he was apparently not very interested in. He then allegedly asked Goyal to help him retain the additional charge of GM (West) for which the middleman demanded Rs 2 crore as immediate payment. The agency alleged that a part payment of Rs 90 lakh was delivered to Singla after which it carried out searches on their premises and recovered the bribe amount. The CBI has so far arrested eight accused. — PTI

The Posers

CBI officials examined Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal for three hours on Thursday evening
He was questioned about Mahesh Kumar’s promotion from GM (West) to the board and allowing him to retain additional charge of Western Railway after elevation