CBI arrests rail official for taking Rs 15 lakh bribe

HYDERABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday laid a trap and caught RITES, Project Office, Secunderabad, group general manager (Civil) K Venkateshwara Rao while he was allegedly accepting Rs 15 lakh bribe from an employee of an infrastructure company to release a pending bill of Rs 1.5 crore.
CBI officials, in a press release, said the railway officer and KVR Infrastructure Ltd project manager Shankar were arrested under Section 120 B (conspiracy) of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A case was registered by CBI sleuths against Venkateshwara Rao based on a tip-off by a source about the prospective illegal gratification demanded by Rao to clear pending bills of Rs 1.5 crore of the ?11croreworth contract undertaken by KVR Infrastructure.
Discreet verification by CBI revealed that Rao was indulging in corrupt practices. Recently, RITES awarded the contract worth Rs 11.00 crore to KVR Infrastructure, represented by M Raj Kumar of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. Raj Kumar deputed his manager Shankar to deliver the amount to Rao, the release added. A trap was laid and Rao was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe. Searches were conducted at the office and residence of Rao and Shankar’s hotel room. They would be produced before court on Sunday.