The CBI arrested Gail Director, ES Ranganathan, in a bribery case of over ₹ 50 lakh for giving discounts to private companies buying Petrochemical products marketed by the Maharatna PSU.
CBI has arrested 5 individuals including Ranganathan and other middlemen who are involved in the scam.
The CBI search happened at eight places including Ranganathan’s office and residence. CBI Spokesperson RC Joshi said, “Cash of ₹ 1.29 crore (approx), and gold jewellery and other valuables (having app value of ₹ 1.25 crore) was recovered during searches from the premises of said accused (Ranganathan),”
Pawan Gaur and Rajesh Kumar (Director of Rishab Polychem Pvt. Ltd) acted as middlemen for Ranganathan by getting bribes from the private companies buying petrochemical products from GAIL.
CBI sensed a bribe exchange happening, executed a trap operation in which two middlemen were getting bribes of about 10 lakh on behalf of Ranganathan.
Apart from Ranganathan and middlemen, CBI also arrested N Ramakrishnan Nair who collected bribes along with businessmen (Saurabh Gupta Polymer Industries), and Aditya Bansal (Karnal-based Bansal Agency).
Mr. Joshi stated “Subsequently, searches were conducted at the premises of accused at Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Karnal, etc, which led to the recovery of ₹ 84 lakh (approx.) so far, which includes recovery of ₹ 75 lakh from a Gurgaon-based private person. Searches are continuing at the premises of public servant,”
The CBI has booked all the accused under IPC sections of criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, added officials.
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