Even as doubts are being raised about the probe in the Railgate bribery scandal, CBI director Ranjit Sinha on Tuesday asserted that the agency ‘is investigating the case’ and nothing should be speculated at this juncture.
While refuting the allegations that the agency is going soft on the case, Mr Sinha told this newspaper: “I can only say that the CBI is investigating the case and nothing should be speculated at this juncture”. The CBI director, however, refused to answer whether the agency was planning to summon former Railway minister Bansal for questioning.
Sources in the agency said the CBI is now preparing to complete its investigations into the Railgate bribery scandal within three months. “The agency sleuths are preparing to file chargesheet against all the arrested accused within 90 days,” sources said.
“This will prevent the arrested accused from getting a bail,” sources said. The CBI has arrested eight people including Vijay Singla, nephew of Bansal, and Mahesh Kumar, former member (Railway board) who were held on May 3.
Other arrested persons included alleged middlemen Sandeep Goel and Narayanrao Manjunath, Delhi-based resident Rahul Yadav and two courier boys — Dharmendra Kumar and Vivek Kumar. Ajay Garg, close aide of Singla, surrendered before a local court here on May 7.
Singla was arrested in Chandigarh on May 3 for allegedly accepting `90 lakh in cash from Manjunath, the conduit of Kumar, recently promoted as member (Staff) in the Railway board and trying to get a lucrative position as member (Electrical). Kumar was arrested in Mumbai by a CBI team soon after he had flown in from Delhi. CBI has registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC against them.