Railway Scam-Press news

THE HINDUOnline edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 19, 2010
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
CBI busts railway recruitment scam
NEW DELHI: The CBI on Friday claimed to have unearthed a multicrore recruitment scam in the Railways and arrested eight persons, including the son of Chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board, Mumbai.
— PTI

THE TELEGRAPH
Calcutta
Saturday , June 19 , 2010
Clean-up nominee in rail racket
New Delhi, June 18: The CBI has unearthed a railway job racket that was allegedly being run as a family enterprise by two top officials, one of them chosen by Mamata Banerjee to help clean up her ministry’s recruitment system.
The railways suspended S.M. Sharma, appointed by Mamata as chairman of the Railway Recruitment Board of Mumbai, after the CBI arrested his son Vivek Bhardwaj Sharma yesterday for allegedly selling question papers.
The agency also arrested the recently retired additional divisional railway manager of Raipur, A.K. Jagannathan, his son Srujan and five others following simultaneous raids in Mumbai, Raipur, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Mamata had, in her game of one-upmanship with predecessor Lalu Prasad, replaced the chairmen of all the 20 Railway Recruitment Boards last year after allegations of corruption. Neither she nor her officials were available for comment today.
The development underscores a trend of people in high positions being caught for corruption. Two months ago, the CBI had arrested Medical Council of India president Ketan Desai, a self-styled crusader for rectitude among doctors, for allegedly accepting a bribe.
CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said the raids in Mumbai had led to the discovery of Rs 60 lakh in the bank accounts of Sharma’s family members, and the seizure of passbooks and laptops. Sharma’s son Vivek recently bought a Pajero in the name of a relative, a source said.
The scam relates to the examinations for the posts of assistant loco pilot (held on June 6 this year) and assistant stationmaster (June 13) in the railways’ Mumbai zone.
Jagannathan got his hands on the question papers with the help of Vivek and the Mumbai board’s officials and sold copies to hundreds of candidates at Rs 3.5 lakh each a day before the exam, Bhal said. Each candidate had to leave his original certificates with Jagannathan, who was to return them after the full payment had been made, he added.
Bhal said the CBI had seized Rs 21.5 lakh in cash and the original certificates of 444 candidates from Jagannathan’s home in Hyderabad, and another Rs 12 lakh from him personally at a Bangalore hotel along with question papers and original certificates.
“It is estimated that the scam runs into several crores of rupees,” Bhal said.
The 20 Railway Recruitment Boards conduct examinations for the recruitment of Group C and D railway staff across the country. The Indian Railways is the country’s largest employer and its jobs are so highly sought-after that the exams often trigger violence, with local people at the test centres trying to drive away outstation candidates.
Mamata had unveiled her grand plans to revamp railway recruitment, in the face of severe criticism over irregularities, while presenting the railway budget in February. She had announced benefits for minority women candidates and the poorer job seekers. The arrests, however, show that these jobs often go to those who can “afford” to buy them.
The CBI has asked railway job seekers to be vigilant, saying similar rackets are being run by gangs in various parts of the country in collusion with railway officials.
All those arrested have been remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody. Apart from Vivek, Jagannathan and Srujan, the accused include Raipur-based agent M.R.S.N. Murthy, Andhra Pradesh health department employee A. Kumar Swamy, and three Hyderabad-based agents.




THE HINDUOnline edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 19, 2010
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Andra pradesh

Tatkal ticket scam unearthed
Staff Reporter
Rs. 29,000 unaccounted cash seized from booking clerk
-Photo: MOHD ARIF

Prompt action:Officials of the Railway Vigilance wing perusing records at the railway reservation counter in Sangareddy on Friday.
SANGAREDDY: The vigilance officials of the South Central Railway on Friday raided the online booking counter of the railways and seized Rs. 29,000 which was unaccounted for. The raids were conducted at 8.30 a.m.
According to officials, they received number of complaints from the passengers that the booking clerk K. Ramesh has been collecting an additional amount of Rs. 150 on each tatkal ticket after reserving them on fake names.
Officials found that 15 tickets were booked under Tatkal but the amount of Rs. 29,000 was not remitted in the cash box. Officials came to a conclusion that Mr. Ramesh was involved in the scam after they found the reserved tickets under tatkal in his possession.
Chief Vigilance Inspector Anuj Kumar, Inspectors --Vivekananda and Narasimhulu – took part in the raid. After grilling Mr. Ramesh , they informed the media that a report would be submitted to the higher officials.
However, they did not elaborate.


Samay exclusive: Surat express scam exposed17/06/2010 19:40:00
Our sister channel Samay has exposed a shocking scandal on Thursday involving the train ticket examiner and the Railway Administration, who used to earn superfluous money by attaching an extra coach to the Surat Express.
Ashish Ranjan
The Surat express runs from Bhagalpur to Surat and it has ten sleeper coaches.

Our correspondent has uncovered that the scandal was going on since last five years in which the train ticket examiner and the railway administration used to attach an extra coach to the train, for which Rs. 300 was charged from each passenger.

After the scam surfaced, people are demanding the suspension of the ticket examiner of the train and people from the administration, who were involved in the scandal.

The CBI probe is being demanded in this matter.