‘Probe ex-WR GM’s promotion’
Following the arrest of senior Railway Board member and former GM of the Western Railway, employees of both the railway bodies — WR and CR — have become unreachable and are refusing to speak to the media.
Kumar and Vijay Singla, the nephew of railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal were arrested for accepting bribes.
According to activists, who are known to some of the railway officers, the arrest of Kumar has sent shockwaves among most officers. “When I tried calling one of the senior officers his cellphone was switched off…the incident has shocked most senior officers,” said noted rail activist Samir Jhaveri.
When this correspondent tried to contact certain senior railway officials, their cellphones were found to be switched off. SMSes to the concerned officials also did not elicit any response.
A few city-based activists have now demanded an inquiry into Kumar’s promotion.
“I have been writing letters and emails to the PM, President and chairman of the Railway Board since the last one year about the wrongdoings of Kumar, but no one paid any heed,” he said.
Mr Jhaveri further alleged that when Kumar was heading the vigilance team at WR in Mumbai, several fraud cases had come to light. “During Kumar’s tenure as head of vigilance at WR, the CBI raided a DRM’s office in Ahmedabad and found `80 lakh in cash, one kg of gold and 30 wine bottles (prohibited in Gujarat). The DRA was subsequently arrested,” he said, adding that the CBI was more active in detecting frauds and arresting railway officials, while the WR’s vigilance department hardly did anything significant.
Another Mumbai-based rail activist Anees Khan has demanded that in light of the incident, the CBI should inquire and check the call records of other railway board members, who have recently been promoted.
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