Amritsar, Feb 13: The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked an executive engineer of the Central Public Works Department for allegedly demanding illegal gratification to release payments for the IIM Amritsar construction project. The official, identified as Nitish Kumar, faces charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act following a formal complaint by a private infrastructure firm representative.
The case originated from a complaint filed by Navjot Saini, a resident of Dream City and administration head of the firm involved in the project. Saini reported that while his company was awarded a Rs 72 crore contract for IIM Amritsar, the process for clearing bills totaling Rs 25 crore was intentionally stalled. According to the complaint, bills were submitted to the CPWD for reimbursement, and while some payments were released, Kumar allegedly created unnecessary delays.
“I repeatedly requested the officer to release the pending payments, but he insisted on a bribe,” Saini mentioned in his statement to the authorities.
The complaint was initially submitted to the DIG of the CBI on February 4. A preliminary probe conducted by a sub-inspector-rank officer corroborated the allegations, leading to the formal registration of the case on February 10.
“The probe into the case was entrusted to an officer who found the allegations to be true,” a source familiar with the investigation noted.
An inspector has been assigned to lead the ongoing inquiry to gather further evidence regarding the financial transactions and the alleged demand.
