The CBI has recorded the statement of Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal in connection with the alleged bribery scandal involving former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla and the then Board Member Mahesh Kumar.
CBI sources said Mr. Mittal was examined for nearly three hours on Thursday evening where he was asked about promotion of Mahesh Kumar from General Manager (West) to the Board and also about allowing him to retain additional charge of Western Railway even after his elevation.
The sources said MR. Mittal is not an accused in the case registered by the agency on May 3 this year in which Mr. Singla and Mr. Kumar are the main accused.
Mr. Bansal had to resign as Railway Minister early this month after his nephew and a few other persons were arrested by the CBI in a case involving alleged payment of bribe for fixing a top-level Railway Board position.
The case relates to reported aspirations of Mr. Kumar for his elevation as Member (Electrical) in the Railway Board for which he allegedly contacted Mr. Goyal, a close associate of Mr. Singla. Mr. Goyal allegedly demanded Rs. 10 crore for it.
Mr. Kumar was in between elevated from GM (West) to Member (Staff) in the Railway Board, a post which he was apparently not very interested in. He then allegedly asked Mr. Goyal to help him retain the additional charge of GM (West) for which the middleman demanded Rs. two crore as immediate payment.
The agency alleged that a part payment of Rs. 90 lakh was delivered to Mr. Singla after which it carried out searches at their premises and recovered the bribe amount.
Thr CBI has so far arrested eight persons in connection with the case.
