CBI books two military engrs for demanding Rs2.8L bribe

Lucknow: The CBI on Friday booked two officers of the Military Engineering Services (MES) in Prayagraj for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 2.8 lakh from a manpower supplier in exchange for issuing a Letter of Acceptance for a govt contract. The accused officials were identified as Ravi Singh, garrison engineer (west), MES, Prayagraj, and Vimal Kumar, assistant garrison engineer (contract).
The complaint was lodged by Pawan Kumar Tiwari, proprietor of a Delhi-based firm, Rudraksh Enterprises, who alleged that the officials sought money to process the acceptance of a bid his company won under Bid No. GeM/2024/B/5664427. The tender was related to manpower outsourcing. CBI officials discreetly verified the complaint, confirming that the accused indeed demanded an illegal payment. Based on this verification, an FIR was registered on March 28 against Ravi Singh and Vimal Kumar under Section 61(2) of the BNS, 2023, which deals with criminal conspiracy, and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018). Officials have indicated that further action will be taken based on the collected evidence. tnn