EPIL manager booked for taking Rs 50 lakh in bribes

The CBI on Saturday said it has registered two separate cases against the manager of public sector enterprise Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL) for obtaining illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh.

The amount was obtained from two separate companies for awarding them contracts of public works in Tripura and Kolkata.

Investigators in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that Paritosh Kumar Praveen, who is employed at EPIL's Delhi-based branch, allegedly demanded Rs 1.5 crore but they have managed to get evidence only about Rs 50 lakh illicit money received by him.

The CBI got information that the accused official allegedly obtained illegal gratification from a Kolkata-based owner, also an accused, of a construction company in Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar for a building project in West Bengal's New Town -- a fast growing satellite city in the neighbourhood of Kolkata -- in one case.

"In the second case, the EPIL officer received gratification from the director of a construction company based at Guwahati in Assam for public works at the ONGC Tripura Power Company," a CBI official said.

He said that the agency conducted raids at more than a dozen locations in eight states, including Lucknow, Bhagalpur, Purnia, Bastar, Bilaspur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Udaipur (Tripura), Bhubaneswar, Rourkela and Delhi.

"The significant information and evidence that emerged during these searches are being examined for further investigation."

--IANS

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