Almost a month after registering an FIR into the Railgate bribery scandal, the CBI on Tuesday questioned former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in connection with the case. Mr Bansal was questioned by CBI sleuths for nearly six hours at the agency’s guest house in Lutyens Delhi.
The questioning of Mr Bansal revolved around his role in the appointment of suspended Railway Board member (staff) Mahesh Kumar involving his nephew, Mr Vijay Singla, who was caught allegedly accepting a bribe of `90 lakh, sources said. Mr Bansal denied during questioning any knowledge of any deal struck between Mr Singla and Mr Kumar.
Sources said the sleuths confronted Mr Bansal with phone conversation intercepts, call detail records and grilled him on how Mr Singla was able to assure Mr Kumar about his elevation if he had not discussed the matter with him. Mr Bansal claimed innocence in the matter and said he had not given any assurance to Mr Kumar about his elevation to board member, sources added. Mr Bansal claimed “Singla was acting independently”, sources added. Over 1,000 phone calls were intercepted during the two-month surveillance of Mr Kumar and Mr Singla. The CBI has so far arrested eight people.