Assam: CBI arrests CSIR-NEIST scientist, 3 others in state

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: In a Rs 8 lakh bribery case, the CBI arrested four accused, including two public servants, a controller of stores and purchases (COSP), and a principal scientist, both of CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat. The other two are private persons, including the director of a private company and his brother, who gave bribes to the arrested public servants.

 CBI registered a case against five public servants, including the controller of stores and purchase (COSP), CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat; the principal scientist, CID, CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat; a finance and accounts officer (F&AO), CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat; a then Controller of Finance and Accounts (CoFA) presently working as CoFA, CSIR-NIScPR (National Institute of Science, Communication, and Policy Research), New Delhi; and a senior principal scientist, CID [Centre for Infectious Disease], CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat; and the two private persons, including the director of M/private company having registered office at New Delhi; and Jorhat resident brother of the director of said private company.

It was alleged in the FIR that the accused public servants were involved in corrupt and illegal activities involving obtaining undue advantage from different private parties or companies in lieu of extending undue favour in the matter of the purchase and award of contracts.

It was also alleged that the accused, then Controller of Finance and Accounts (CoFA), had contacted CSIR Headquarters, New Delhi, and pursued the allocation of a fund of Rs. 7 crore for incurring expenditure by NEIST, Jorhat, Assam, towards the purchase of the equipment to be supplied by the company of its accused director.

Thereafter, the accused Controller of Stores and Purchase (COSP)-bribe receiver and the accused Finance and Accounts Officer (F&AO) allegedly discussed their share of bribe as a sum of Rs. 7 lakh and Rs. 2 lakh, respectively. It was further alleged that the accused senior principal scientist, allegedly, had also indicated payment of his bribe share by the said director of a private company with assurance in all such future work orders of CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat.

The FIR also alleged that the accused director informed his brother that he would be sending a sum of Rs. 9 lakh in the bank account of a consultancy firm and instructed him to withdraw a sum of Rs. 8 lakh in cash, out of which he was told to deliver a bribe amount of Rs. 7 lakh to the accused Controller of Stores and Purchase (COSP) and keep the remaining sum of Rs. 1 lakh with himself.

The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused Controller of Stores and Purchase (COSP) and Principal Scientist, CID, both of NEIST, at Jorhat on Friday while having obtained undue advantage of Rs. 7 lakh and Rs. 1 lakh, respectively, from the co-accused brother of the accused director of the private company.

The bribe amounts were recovered from both the accused public servants. They were arrested at Jorhat along with the person (brother of the said director of a private company).

The accused director of the said private company was arrested today in Guwahati.

Searches at 18 different places (office, residential, or business premises) of the accused persons located in Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, UP, and Delhi have been conducted, and incriminating documents and articles were recovered.

All four arrested accused persons were produced before the competent court in Guwahati today.

Also Read: Assam: Divisional Forest Officer Arrested for Bribery in Assam’s Golaghat (sentinelassam.com)

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