Photo Courtesy: nenews
Shillong: The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Aanand Singh Chouhan, the Project Director for the National Highways Authority of India in Shillong. Agents also booked two private citizens, Punit Agarwal and Manish Agarwal, for their roles in a 12-lakh rupee kickback scheme.
Corruption charges stem from a July 1 complaint. A contractor told the agency that Chouhan demanded 12 lakhs to sign off on a pending bill worth 13.38 crore rupees. The official ordered the contractor to pay 4 lakhs as a down payment. He told the contractor to drop the cash with a middleman in Guwahati.
The agency set a trap. They caught one private individual red-handed while collecting the 4-lakh installment. The CBI statement noted the agency "registered the case on July 1 after receiving a complaint alleging that NHAI Project Director Aanand Singh Chouhan demanded an undue advantage of Rs. 12 lakh to process an outstanding bill."
Investigators raided the homes of all three men. They are still digging into the conspiracy to see how deep the rot goes. The arrests mark a major blow to NHAI operations in the region.
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