CBI has exposed many in railways for corruption

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has exposed at least 17 cases of corruption by railway staff over the past 20 months, according to the agency.

The latest case was in April when A.K. Bora, then chairman of Railway Recruitment Board, Northeast Frontier Railway, Guwahati, was sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined Rs.3,000.

This related to the recruitment of 165 candidates as junior accounts assistants.

In January, Vinayak Ramchandra Shewale, then station master of Byculla in Mumbai, was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.4,000.

He demanded a bribe of Rs.2,100 from a person so that juice could be sold at the Byculla station.

In December 2012, Arvind Vijeta Mittal, then senior divisional engineer, Central Railway, was sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.75,000 for amassing assets disproportionate to his known source of income.

His wife Anjali Mittal was also sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.50,000.

In October 2012, the CBI arrested a sub-inspector of the Railway Protection Force, Satna (Madhya Pradesh), for accepting a bribe of Rs.2 lakh from a scrap vendor.

It was alleged that the sub-inspector had demanded a bribe of Rs.10 lakh from the complainant for not implicating him in a theft case and for not arresting him.

In August 2012, the CBI arrested a senior divisional engineer of South Western Railway, Hubli (Karnataka), for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs.1.10 lakh from a contractor for passing a bill.

Brijesh Galav, then divisional engineer, Northeast Frontier Railway, Tinsukia (Assam), was sentenced to four years rigorous imprisonment in December 2011. He was also fined Rs.35,000 for demanding a bribe of Rs.50,000 from a contractor.

In July 2011, Vaibhav Chouhan, then deputy chief personnel officer, West Central Railway, Jabalpur, was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment and fined of Rs.10,000 for seeking a bribe of Rs.200,000 for confirming the complainant as a bungalow peon.