CBI Seizes Incriminating Documents From Railway Offices In Vizag

Visakhapatnam: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted several search operations at Railway offices here after arresting Waltair Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Sourabh Prasad red-handed with alleged ‘bribe’ money of Rs 25 lakh.

He was caught while demanding and accepting the amount from a Railway contractor and taking the amount in a high-end car to his home in Mumbai on Saturday. The arrest was made following a tip-off that the DRM has been demanding hefty amounts from contractors and while clearing bills from the contractors.

The division in the East Coast Railway (ECoR) has been implementing projects worth hundreds of crores for modernisation of several railway stations and expansion of railway tracks. This is the second case of arresting a DRM from Andhra Pradesh in less than four months in a corruption case involving top railway officials with regard to mechanical and construction contracts. Guntakal DRM Vineeth Singh was arrested in July while accepting bribe in another case. Rs 11 lakh of ‘ill-gotten’ cash was recovered from him.

One of the senior railways told Bizz Buzz that there were several representations from the contractors and vendors against the style of functioning of Sourabh Prasad and his insistence for payment of certain percentage of contracting value to him towards ‘mamool.’ The premier investigation agency reportedly seized several incriminating documents during raids in Visakhapatnam.