No phone calls between Bansal and Singla about Kumar: CBI

The CBI,which is probing the bribery case involving the nephew of former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal,has said there are no telephonic conversations between Bansal and his nephew Vijay Singla over the appointment of Mahesh Kumar as member electrical. The agency had mounted telephonic surveillance on Singla and Kumar and arrested the duo while Singla was allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 90 lakh from Kumar at Chandigarh in May this year.

The agency also said Bansal was not aware about the wrongdoings of his nephew and the use of his official residence by him to carry out transfer postings scam in the Railways. In fact,when the alleged meeting between Singla and Kumar took place at the house of Bansal in New Delhi,the he was reported to be in Chandigarh, said a senior CBI official. The agency recently filed a chargesheet in a Delhi court against Kumar,Singla and eight others in which Bansal has been named as witness.

The agency also examined the meetings between Bansal and Kumar who was posted as Member staff in the Railway Board. From the examination of the records of the Railway Ministry,we have concluded that Kumar never met Bansal outside his official capacity and the two are learnt to have only met during official meetings. There was no one-to-one meeting between Bansal and Kumar, added the official.

The agency also said that from the scrutiny of the file notings it appears that Kumar was not aware of the decisions taken by Bansal. He was not privy to the comments made by Bansal in the files, said an official,adding that the telephonic interception of Kumar also reflected desperation on his part with Singla.

The CBI said Kumar was increasingly losing hope in Singla who had promised to fix the post of Member electrical. He was not sure whether Singla will be able to pull out the postings as promised.