The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has made arrests in a bribery case involving the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). NHAI General Manager Purushottam Lal Choudhary, stationed in Chattarpur, Madhya Pradesh, was arrested, along with six others. The accused include NHAI consultant Sharad Verma, resident engineer Prem Kumar Sinha, and four employees of PNC Infratech, namely Satyanarayana Anguluri, Brijesh Mishra, Anil Jain, and Shubham Jain. The arrests were made on Saturday evening.
The accused individuals were allegedly receiving bribes in connection with the Jhansi-Khajuraho Project, which was awarded to PNC Infratech by the NHAI. The bribes were related to the final handover of the project, the issuance of a no objection certificate, and the processing of the final bill. The CBI had filed an FIR against 10 suspects, including the seven arrested individuals.
It is alleged that Yogesh Jain and T R Rao, directors of PNC Infratech Limited, were paying bribes to NHAI officials to obtain favorable treatment. The CBI received information about these alleged bribes, which led to the arrests.
In a statement, a CBI spokesperson said that the accused were caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from employees of a private company. Following the arrests, the CBI conducted searches at various locations, including premises in Chattarpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, and Gurugram.