CBI arrests NHAI project director, two others in Rs 12-lakh bribery case

The CBI has arrested the project director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Shillong, and two private persons for allegedly demanding Rs 12 lakh from a contractor for clearing his pending bill.

The central agency had registered a case on July 1 based on a complaint alleging that NHAI project director Aanand Singh Chouhan “demanded bribe/undue advantage of Rs 12 lakh from the complainant to process his outstanding bill to the tune of Rs 13.38 crore”, an official statement said.

According to the statement, the accused official instructed the complainant to pay an advance of Rs 4 lakh as part of the alleged bribe and asked him to hand over the money to a private person in Guwahati.

“The said private person in turn asked the complainant to hand over the bribe to another private person at Guwahati,” the CBI said. The agency said it laid a trap and “caught the accused private person red-handed while demanding and accepting bribe/undue advantage of `4 lakh from the complainant”.

Following the trap, the project director and both the private persons — Punit Agarwal and Manish Agarwal — were arrested, while searches were conducted at their respective premises, the CBI said.

Further investigation into the matter is underway, it added.