Two out of four arrested in connection with a financial fraud in Jorhat's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST) were granted bail on Wednesday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested the four individuals including two public servants and seized various documents during a raid in July this year.
While hearing the matter, the Gauhati High Court granted bail to Kangkan Kashyap and Ankan Borpujari in the case noting that they had been imprisoned for a long time. The bail was granted against a surety and bail bond of Rs 1 lakh.
In July, the CBI conducted an extensive raid at CSIR-NEIST in Jorhat’s Pulibor over an alleged financial scam. The raid led to the arrest of four individuals.
The arrested public servants were accused of accepting bribes from private companies in exchange for awarding contracts and facilitating procurement processes. According to the CBI, the case was registered on July 26 against five public servants, including the Controller of Stores & Purchase (COSP), a Principal Scientist, a Finance and Accounts Officer (F&AO), and a former Controller of Finance and Accounts (CoFA), currently stationed in New Delhi, along with a Senior Principal Scientist.
The case also implicated two civilians, one of whom was the Director of a private company based in New Delhi, and the other a resident of Jorhat, Assam. The FIR alleged that the former CoFA helped allocate Rs 7 crore to CSIR-NEIST for purchasing equipment supplied by the Director’s company. The COSP and F&AO allegedly agreed to receive Rs 7 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively, as part of their bribe shares. The Senior Principal Scientist was also alleged to have sought future bribes in exchange for further work orders.
The Director of the private company reportedly instructed his brother to withdraw Rs 8 lakh in cash, with Rs 7 lakh to be handed over to the COSP and Rs 1 lakh retained. The CBI, in a sting operation on July 24, caught the COSP and the Principal Scientist red-handed while accepting the bribes from the brother of the Director.
The arrested individuals were presented before a court in Guwahati, after which they were to be transported to New Delhi for further legal proceedings. The CBI also conducted searches at 18 locations across Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, resulting in the seizure of incriminating documents and materials.