Mumbai: CBI Books NHAI Official, 2 others in Graft Case

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case of obtaining alleged undue advantage against a senior National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) official and two others, including a representative of a Mumbai-based construction company. The accused public servant is alleged to have taken money for smooth processing of payments to contractors' work bills without raising any queries or delaying it.

According to the CBI, two instances had come to the notice of the agency wherein Devendrakumar Vyas, the deputy manager at NHAI’s regional office in Gandhinagar, had demanded and accepted illegal gratification of Rs25,000 from the project manager of an Ahmedabad-based construction company and Rs50,000 from the chief project manager of a Mumbai-based company towards smooth payment against the bills raised by the two companies engaged in the construction of a four-lane expressway in Gujarat.

How the illegal gratification was obtained

“In both instances of illegal gratification, Vyas had provided the details of bank accounts to the company representatives for depositing the illegal gratification. In pursuance of his demands, both persons had credited an amount of Rs25,000 dated July 14, 2022, and Rs50,000 dated April 28, 2022, in the bank accounts respectively. After depositing the illegal gratification, one of the accused had forwarded the screenshots of transaction details to Vyas over his mobile which was responded to by Vyas by writing 'OK'," said an agency official.

The agency claimed in its FIR that Vyas had processed the bills submitted by contractor companies and obtained the illegal gratification as a reward through corrupt and illegal means by exercising his personal influence. He smoothly processed the said bill payments to the contractors of the expressway, thereby misusing his official position and performing his public duty dishonestly.