Lucknow: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Lucknow on Tuesday sentenced a former railway engineer to four years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹20,000 after convicting him in a decade-old bribery case involving the clearance of a contractor’s bills.The convict, Girijesh Kumar Gaur, was serving as the assistant divisional signal and telecommunication engineer (ADSTE) with the North Central Railway (NCR), Banda, at the time of the offence.According to the CBI, the case was registered on May 27, 2016, following a complaint alleging that Gaur had demanded a bribe of ₹20,000 from a contractor for processing and sanctioning pending bills worth ₹80,000 related to a vehicle engaged under contract with the office of the ADSTE, NCR, Banda.Investigators alleged that the accused demanded ₹10,000 before sanctioning the bills and another ₹10,000 after their clearance.Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap on May 27, 2016. During the operation, Gaur was allegedly caught red-handed at his residence while accepting ₹9,700 as illegal gratification against the initial demand of ₹10,000.Following the successful trap, the CBI conducted a detailed investigation and filed a charge sheet against Gaur before the competent court on Jun 24, 2016.After examining the evidence and hearing both sides during the trial, the special CBI court in Lucknow found the accused guilty and sentenced him to four years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of ₹20,000.The conviction marks the culmination of the CBI’s investigation into the bribery case, nearly a decade after the trap operation was conducted.
