CBI searches residence, office of senior NPCC officer in bribery case

The CBI carried out searches at the residence and office of a senior officer of the NPCC and unearthed properties worth over Rs 15 crore in connection with a probe into a bribery case, officials said Monday.

The searches took place in connection with its probe against two Guwahati-based NPCC officers who allegedly received a bribe of Rs 25 lakh for clearing bills pertaining to construction of BSF border outposts, they said.

The agency searched the office of Manohar Kumar, the then incharge chairman-cum-managing director (now director, finance) at the corporate headquarters of National Projects Construction Corporation Limited, they said.

His residence at Uttam Nagar here was also searched recently, they added.

The agency seized 3.4 kg jewellery besides documents of properties worth over Rs 15 crore in his and his relatives' name, they said.

Kumar was CMD incharge between 2018 and April this year.

His close aide Mahesh Kumar Kaushik's residence was also searched in Gurugram from where the agency seized eight property documents worth crores, they said.

It is alleged that NPCC zonal manager Rakesh Mohan Kotwal and manager Latiful Pasha had demanded a bribe of Rs 33 lakh from Anish Baid, the owner of the Shree Gautam Construction Company Ltd, for passing the bills for construction of Border Security Force (BSF) border outposts done by his firm.