The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two more persons, employed at the National Highway Authority of India, in an ongoing investigation of a case related to bribery amounting to Rs. 20 lakh. With this, a total of 8 accused have been arrested in the case. Earlier, the CBI arrested six individuals, including two public servants.

The CBI has initiated a case against the four public servants facing bribery charges. The allegations stand that NHAI officials accepted the amount for clearing pending matters including processing of pending bills and issuance of completion certificates in lieu of a bribe for the project Outer Ring Road.

A cash recovery of approximately Rs 2 crore, including the bribe money, has been made by the CBI so far. Searches were also conducted at 16 different locations, including offices and residences of the accused in Nagpur and Bhopal, Harda, Vidisha, and Dindori in Madhya Pradesh.

The accused government officials are positioned at higher ranks at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Besides them, two directors and two employees of the accused Bhopal-based private company face charges, namely Anil Bansal and Kunal Bansal.

CBI registered a case against the four public servants of NHAI, the private company, and its employees on allegations that they had been delivering bribes to NHAI officers through their employees in exchange for the issuance of completion certificates, processing of bills, progression of awarded works, etc., in road projects awarded by the National Highways Authority of India.

It was also alleged that said private company employees delivered bribes to public servants in Nagpur and in different locations in Madhya Pradesh. Further, it was alleged that a bribe of Rs 25 lakh was likely to be delivered to said general manager (GM) and the deputy GM in Nagpur.

The arrests were made following a trap laid by the CBI sleuths after the delivery of an alleged bribe of Rs 20 lakh to both NHAI officials by an employee of the said private company, Krishna.

A detailed probe is underway and searches are being conducted at different offices and residences of the accused. Several incriminating documents and digital devices have been recovered during the CBI-led searches.