CBI's Raid at Jorhat's CSIR-NEIST Uncovers Major Financial Scam; 4 Arrested

In a significant development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted an extensive raid at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST) in Jorhat’s Pulibor over an alleged financial scam. The raid, which began at 3 PM on Friday, lasted until the next morning and resulted in the arrest of at least four individuals including two public servants and the seizure of several documents.

The accused public servants were allegedly involved in corrupt activities, accepting undue advantages from various private parties and companies in exchange for extending undue favors in the procurement and awarding of contracts.

The CBI registered the case on July 26 against five public servants, including:

• A Controller of Stores & Purchase (COSP) at CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat

• A Principal Scientist at CID, CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat

• A Finance and Accounts Officer (F&AO) at CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat

• A former Controller of Finance and Accounts (CoFA), currently working as CoFA at CSIR-NIScPR (National Institute of Science, Communication and Policy Research), New Delhi

• A Senior Principal Scientist at CID, CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat.

The case also involves two individuals:

• A 'Director' of a private company with a registered office in New Delhi

• A resident of Jorhat, Assam.

The FIR alleges that the former CoFA contacted CSIR Headquarters in New Delhi and pursued the allocation of approximately Rs 7 crores for NEIST, Jorhat, Assam, to purchase equipment supplied by the company of the accused Director. The COSP and F&AO allegedly discussed their bribe shares, amounting to Rs 7 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively. It is also alleged that the Senior Principal Scientist expected a bribe from the Director of the private company for future work orders at CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat.

The accused Director reportedly instructed his brother to withdraw Rs 8 lakh in cash from the bank account of a consultancy firm, with Rs 7 lakh to be delivered as a bribe to the COSP and the remaining Rs 1 lakh to be kept by himself.

The CBI laid a trap and caught the COSP and Principal Scientist at NEIST, Jorhat, on July 24, while they were receiving undue advantages of Rs 7 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively, from the brother of the accused Director of the private company in exchange for favoring the company in awarding contracts and passing bills for the supply of a spectrophotometer and its associated software.

The bribe amounts were recovered from the public servants, who were arrested in Jorhat along with the brother of the Director on July 26. The Director of the private company was arrested on Saturday, July 27, in Guwahati.

Searches were conducted at 18 different locations, including offices, residences, and business premises of the accused in Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, resulting in the recovery of incriminating documents and articles.

All four arrested individuals are being produced before the competent court in Guwahati today and will then be taken to New Delhi for further proceedings.

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