Senior railway official jailed for graft

Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu), Nov 13 (IANS) A senior railway official was jailed Thursday after he was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe from a civil contractor, a CBI official said.

P.V. Reddy, senior divisional engineer (Southern Railway), was caught by the anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while demanding a bribe of Rs.100,000 from a civil contractor to expedite payment of a bill of Rs.12.5 million, superintendent of police S. Murugan of the CBI, said.

Contractor Pandidhurai, who improved platforms in Srirangam railway station, was denied payment for a considerable amount of time by Reddy, who claimed that the former had exceeded the sanctioned limit by Rs.2.5 million. 'Upon receipt of a complaint, a trap was laid and the suspect was arrested,' Murugan added.

Reddy's residence and offices were raided and incriminating material seized. Later, he was produced before a special CBI judge in Madurai, 150 km south of here, and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, CBI sources added.

The Southern Railway, headquartered in Chennai, 350 km north of here, is improving its infrastructure all over Tamil Nadu.