CBI books two PCDA officials, contractual worker in bribery case

The CBI said prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act had been obtained from the competent authority to investigate the allegations against the public servants.

According to the FIR, the accused allegedly conspired to obtain undue advantage from contractors dealing with the PCDA (Southern Command). Poplakar allegedly acted as an intermediary, collecting and transferring the money to the accused officials.

The complaint concerns three contractors who were awarded contracts worth around Rs 1.22 crore in total. The CBI has alleged that Poplakar received Rs 2.72 lakh from the three contractors.

The FIR states that Poplakar subsequently transferred Rs 85,500 to Kumawat’s bank account in May 2025. Kumawat later allegedly transferred Rs 85,000 to Kumar’s account. The CBI said the transactions prima facie indicated that money was routed through the contractual worker before reaching the public servants.

The agency has also questioned transactions in Poplakar’s bank accounts. Despite earning around Rs 22,000 a month as a contractual worker, one of his accounts recorded credits of Rs 14.46 lakh and debits of Rs 14.95 lakh between April 1, 2024, and June 10, 2025. The CBI has alleged that his accounts were used to route illegal gratification.

The case also involves alleged irregularities in the procurement of batteries, UPS systems and high-end servers between 2022-23 and 2024-25. A vigilance scrutiny reportedly found violations of financial and defence procurement rules.

The FIR alleges that Kumar abused his official position, causing wrongful loss to the government and corresponding gains to favoured private parties.

The CBI has registered the case under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The investigation has been entrusted to an inspector of the CBI ACB.