INN News Desk
A strong impact on INN News published on Railway Jobs Scam in these columns, railway ministry and CBI digging deeper into the cash- for- post rot in the Rail Bhavan, the CBI has reached the door of Railway Board top brass. Top CBI sources said the agency has summoned top railway officials for questioning. It is also being rumoured that the agency is trying to unravel the “ degree of proximity” between the suspended board member, Mahesh Kumar, and the Chairman of Railway Board ( CRB), Vinay Mittal.
According to CBI sources, Kumar, during his interrogation, “ boasted about his closeness to the CRB”. Even in the telephone intercepts with the agency, Kumar had claimed that he will get the “ work done through Mittal”. A senior official said: “ The CBI team is now trying to ascertain if there is any role of the CRB in Kumar’s elevation as member ( staff) and the special favour made to him by given him the additional charge of Western Railway.’’ “ Why the same was not given to two other Railway Board members who were promoted recently?’’ he added.
Questions are also being raised over the delay in finalising the names for the posts of Divisional Railway Managers ( DRMs) that will soon fall vacant. “ There are 16- 17 names sent for empanelment of DRMs for about 8- 9 posts expected to get vacant soon. The file has been hanging fire for over two months. Such delays in appointment to key posts have become common in the railways.
Rumours mills have started churning if the delay is intentional.” Interestingly, Mittal was seen seeking support for Bansal on Thursday as he got many officers and other rail associations to sign a “ memorandum in support of the rail minister”. The exercise triggered suspicion among many senior officers who started to talk about Mittal’s intention behind the “ support message”. A senior officer said: “ It is never expected of the top most railway official to get into political debates. While four top association leaders signed the message, All- India Railwaymen Federation leader Shiv Gopal Mishra refused to join the exercise.” Sources said the CBI probe is inching closer to Bansal as there is enough material with the agency to suggest that he was in touch with Kumar, who seems to have started spilling the beans. “ We will question people responsible for his promotion,” a CBI officer said.
The CBI is relying upon nearly 1,500 phone intercepts involving conversations between Kumar, Vijay Singla, his associate Sandeep Goyal and Bangalorebased industrialist Narayanrao Manjunath. “ There are several references to Bansal in these conversations. We are going through all the intercepts to get more leads,” said a CBI officer.
The CBI has also initiated an internal inquiry to look into the leak of information related to the raid at Kumar’s Mumbai residence.
Sources said about 15 minutes before the raid, Kumar tipped- off his wife who collected some crucial evidence and hid them at another location. The CBI later managed to recover the material.
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