2 MES officials, contractors arrested by CBI in ₹22.48-lakh bribery case

The CBI laid a trap and caught all four red-handed during the bribe transaction.

  The CBI Sunday arrested a Lt Col and a subedar major along with two private contactors in a ₹22.48-lakh bribery case related to awarding tenders at the Ambala Cantonment, officials said.

Lt Col Rahul Pawar, Senior Barracks Store Officer, Military Engineer Services (MES) and Subedar Major Pardeep Kumar (MES), Ambala Cantt, were taken into custody, they said.

Two contractors Dinesh Kumar and Pritpal have also been arrested, the officials said.

"A case was registered against the accused on the allegations of demanding a bribe. The alleged payment of bribe was to ensure that most of tenders/orders from Ambala Cantt are awarded to said private contractors," the CBI said in a statement.

The CBI laid a trap and caught all four red-handed during the bribe transaction of ₹22.48 lakh, it said. During searches, the agency recovered ₹32.50 lakh cash and incriminating documents from the premises of the Lt Col, and ₹16 lakh was also recovered from the possession of the contractors, it said.