Corruption

TRACK WORK

3 senior railway officials held for 80L fraud

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Madurai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested three senior railway engineers in connection with an alleged 80 lakh fraud in track work. 
    The three officials are accused of preparing fake documents to show that work worth 80 lakh was carried out. The works pertained to strengthening of tracks by stacking red sand on either side on the Madurai-Dindigul section during 2008-09. 
    The officials were identified as K A Prakash, divisional railway officer in Madurai (presently serving in Palakkad division), P Selvaraj, additional divisional engineer, and S Kumaravel, senior section engineer, Madurai. 
    A senior CBI officer confirmed the arrests. They were produced in the CBI court in 
Madurai, remanded and sent to Madurai central prison. The contractor of the project is on the run, he said. 
    CBI also raided the chamber of Prakash at the Palakkad divisional railway office, his relative Sivakumar’s house in Madurai and the house of Kumaravel in the Railway Colony on Tuesday and Wednesday. 
    Sources in the Southern Railway said a complaint about the fraud was sent to the CBI headquarters by a contractor, who was denied the contract for the project. 
    The three were booked under Sections 13 (92), 13 (11) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, besides IPC sections. The sleuths have now launched a hunt for the contractor who was awarded the project.