CBI remands PSU officer, 2 others in jail custody

Bhubaneswar: A CBI court on Monday remanded three persons, including Group General Manager of the Central public sector unit Bridge and Roof Company (India) Limited, Chanchal Mukherjee, in jail custody in a bribery case. They were produced before the court after their five-day CBI custody ended.

Apart from Mukherjee, the CBI had arrested contractors Santosh Moharana and Debadutta Mohapatra after catching them red-handed while taking bribe of Rs 10 lakh inside a car near a star hotel in Bhubaneswar on December 7. The Central agency has also issued summons to senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi. Mukherjee’s lawyer Rajesh Mishra said he has applied for bail for Mukherjee which will be heard on December 18. Meanwhile, senior officials of the CBI visited the agency’s Odisha office and took stock of the investigation made so far. The CBI has arrested the three persons and grilled drivers of Sethi, a senior IAS officer posted as the Principal Secretary of ST&SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare department. He also holds additional charge as the Principal Secretary of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities department.

In a letter to the IAS officer, CBI inspector Gurjinder Singh on December 10 said, “It is learnt that you are acquainted with some important and relevant facts and circumstances of the instant CBI case, which are required to be ascertained from you.

” On October 19, 2024, Sethi wrote to Mukherjee regarding assignments of projects for upgrading an ashram school to a high school and a high school to a higher secondary school in Boudh and Nayagarh districts. The two projects are worth Rs 37 crore, State government sources said.