The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has terminated the services of its inspector Rahul Raj, who was nabbed by the agency after allegedly accepting a Rs 10 lakh bribe from the chairman of a Madhya Pradesh-based nursing institution, officials said on today, Wednesday, May 22.
According to the agency, Raj was fired under Article 311 of the Constitution, which allows for the termination of government employees' services, per its "zero tolerance for corruption" policy, reports PTI.
Raj was nabbed "red-handed" on Sunday, May 19, while allegedly taking an illegal gratuity of Rs 10 lakh from Malay College of Nursing Chairman Anil Bhaskaran and his wife Suma Anil, an officer claimed.
The couple was also arrested.
The CBI has also assigned its Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ashish Prasad, to the headquarters.
He was named in the case's first information report.
Sushil Kumar Majoka and Rishi Kant Asathe, both on attachment with the CBI from the Madhya Pradesh Police, will be returned to the state police soon after their suspected involvement in the bribery racket was revealed.
The CBI acted after receiving inputs and surveillance from its internal vigilance unit and revealed that one of the assistance teams formed on the directives of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to investigate infrastructure in the state's nursing colleges was corrupt.
"CBI, ACB, Bhopal, had constituted seven core teams and three-to-four support teams, comprising officials from CBI, those nominated by nursing colleges in Madhya Pradesh and patwaris, in compliance of the directions of the high court for conducting statewide inspections to ascertain whether nursing colleges satisfied the laid down norms and standards for nursing colleges in respect of infrastructural facilities and faculty," CBI spokesperson said.
According to the agency, during the monitoring of inspections conducted by several teams, officials from one of the support teams, including Raj, were determined to be corrupt.
According to the spokeswoman, they were found to give favourable inspection reports in exchange for bribes received through conduits.
The CBI arrested 13 persons, including Raj, for providing favourable inspection reports to nursing colleges in Madhya Pradesh in exchange for bribes gathered through conduits, according to officials.
"A case registered by the CBI reinforces its zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and shows that the CBI does not spare its own officials, if found deviating from core values of the organisation," the spokesperson said.
