Vadodara: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday booked four individuals, including three senior Western Railway officials, in a case related to bribery in the Railway Departmental Examination.

In the latest development, the central agency today, arrested six accused, including five railway officers (two of whom are IRPS officers) and a private person, in the case. During searches at multiple locations linked to the accused individuals, the agency recovered 650 grams of gold and approximately ₹5 lakh in cash.

The arrested individuals include Sr. Divisional Personnel Officer (IRPS: 2008) and Divisional Personnel Officer (IRPS: 2018 batch), both from Western Railway, Vadodara; Dy. Chief Commercial Manager, Churchgate, Western Railway, Mumbai; Dy. Station Superintendent; a Nursing Superintendent from Divisional Railway Hospital, Sabarmati (Ahmedabad); and a private person.

The FIR, filed by the CBI on February 18, names Ankush Wasan, Divisional Personnel Officer (IRPS: 2018) of Western Railway, Vadodara; Sanjay Kumar Tiwari, Deputy Chief Commercial Manager, Churchgate, Western Railway, Mumbai; Neeraj Sinha, Deputy Station Superintendent; and a private individual, Mukesh Meena, as accused.

The FIR states that it has been reliably learned that Ankush Wasan, Sanjay Kumar Tiwari, Neeraj Sinha, Mukesh Meena, and other officials of Western Railway, Vadodara, were involved in corrupt and illegal activities. “The aforementioned officials, possibly aided and abetted by others, have been collecting money from candidates appearing for railway departmental examinations by promising them favorable selection outcomes,” the FIR noted.

According to the FIR, on February 13, Wasan instructed Tiwari to compile a list of at least ten candidates willing to pay bribes for selection in an upcoming Limited Departmental Examination. Tiwari was also directed to contact Mukesh Meena to identify potential candidates and collect bribes. Meena reportedly confirmed that he had already gathered bribes from five candidates.

Further investigations revealed that on February 17, after a meeting between Wasan and Tiwari at Tiwari’s residence, Tiwari contacted Rajendra Ladla, the proprietor of Dhanraj Jewellers in Vadodara. He inquired about purchasing 400 grams of gold in cash without an invoice, to which Ladla agreed.

The next day, Tiwari met Meena in Anand, Gujarat, and collected cash meant to secure the fraudulent selection of five candidates represented by Meena.

CBI officials have conducted raids at the offices and residences of the accused as part of the investigation. The accused individuals have been booked under Section 61 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. DeshGujarat