Title - Railgate: PMO cleared my file in just 6 hours, accused Mahesh Kumar says

CHANDIGARH: The quick "six-hour" approval from the PMO for his appointment as member (staff) of railway board, even when he was allowed to continue as the general manager of Western Railways, was "a mystery" even to Mahesh Kumar, going by the transcripts of telephone conversations which are part of CBI's charge sheet in the " Railgate". Kumar shared his puzzlement with co-accused Sandeep Goyal on May 1. "Accha theek hai, now developments I tell you ... Yesterday had, a very fast day actually. Matlab mujhe who mystery nahi samajh nahi aa rahi ... ki baat toh ho gayee thi fir aage isme, you know normally, PM's Office takes four days", Kumar told Goyal, according to transcripts of the conversations intercepted by the CBI. When Goyal verified with Kumar if the file had been signed, the suspended railway board member said, "Haan kal woh 6 ghante mein sab ho gaya". He was also keen to find out as to who could have organized the fast-track clearance of his file.

"Haan toh yeh, kaun haii, yeh iske peeche?" asked Mahesh.

Goyal immediately ascribed the swift movement to former railway minister Pawan Bansal. "Nahi mere ko lagta hai, MR Sahab ne khud hi karaya hoga sir".

Kumar was allegedly lobbying to become member (electrical) in the railway board. He was unhappy when he was appointed member (staff), but was allegedly assured that he would be shifted as Member (Electrical) shortly, and that, in the meanwhile, will be allowed to continue as GM of Western Railways.

Kumar had himself attributed what he considered to baffling alacrity with which the PMO cleared his file. He shared this assessment of his with Manjunath, a Bangalore-based railway contractor who has been arrested for arranging the bribe that Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla and others had asked from the suspended railway board member, in a conversation they had on April 30.

"But why this PM office also fast sir, so fast they ..." he asked of Kumar.

"Apparently, I don't know, this what I know see this, this mystery I have not understood ... It might be that MR might have told CRB (Chairman railway board ) that you go and change it temporary," Kumar had replied.

The details of the CDR of Singla, one of the main accused in the case also show that the last incoming call on his phone before he was arrested on May 3 was from the railway ministry.

The call on Singla's phone came from number 011-2*****25 at 4.59pm while the CBI raids at Singla's Sector 28-house in Chandigarh began at 5.30pm. The call lasted nearly one-and-a-half minute.

As per CDR details, Singla also spoke to Bansal's then officer on special duty (OSD) Vitul Kumar, a UP cadre IPS officer, for nearly three minutes.