CBI arrests son of Odisha industrialist Mahimananda Mishra in bribery case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested Charchit Mishra, son of industrialist Mahimananda Mishra, in a bribery case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Charchit Mishra, the younger son of noted industrialist and Orissa Stevedores Ltd MD Mahimananda Mishra, in connection with the alleged payment of a Rs 25-lakh bribe to an official of the Paradip Port Trust, agency officials said on Saturday.

The agency also took into custody a builder, Sisir Kumar Das, who was paid from the bribe money an advance for a property purchased by Chief Mechanical Engineer of the port trust Saroj Kumar Das, the main accused in the case arrested by the CBI, they said.

Saroj Kumar Das had allegedly demanded Rs 60 lakh as a bribe from Orissa Stevedores Ltd (OSL), one of the biggest cargo handling companies in India which is also into shipping, mining, logistics and exports, to let it off without paying for the repair of a conveyor belt at the port that was damaged during unloading of goods by it, officials said.

OSL, which operates at one of the largest ports in India in Paradip, is believed to have a monopoly of loading and unloading of cargo there, they said.

The CBI also questioned Mahimananda Mishra and his other son, Chanchal Mishra, at its Bhubaneswar office on Friday in connection with the case before taking Charchit Mishra into custody, officials said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) earlier arrested Saroj Kumar Das, his conduit Sumanta Rout, DGM of OSL Surya Narayan Sahu and another person named Sankha Subhra Mitra acting as a middleman in connection with the case, they said.

These four accused were sent to four days of CBI custody by a special court, they said.