Ranchi Court Jails Two Railway Officers Three Years for Taking Bribe

<p>A special court in Ranchi has sentenced two railway officers to three years of rigorous imprisonment each after finding them guilty of accepting bribes from a contractor, in a case that dates back to a CBI trap operation conducted in 2018.</p>
<p>The convicted officers are Assistant Material Manager Kailash Kant Jha and Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer Rajeshwari Singh, who was posted at the Patratu Diesel Shed under the East Central Railway in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district. The court also imposed fines on both of them.</p>
<p>The case began when contractor Naresh Kumar Singh made repeated visits to the Patratu Diesel Shed seeking clearance of a pending bill worth Rs 6.26 lakh. According to the prosecution, the two officers demanded money in exchange for moving his file forward. Jha allegedly demanded Rs 17,000, while Singh allegedly demanded Rs 45,000.</p>
<p>Unable to get his bill cleared, the contractor approached the CBI and filed a complaint. The agency then planned a sting operation, during which the contractor handed over the bribe money to the officers in the presence of a CBI team and independent witnesses.</p>
<p>According to the prosecution, the officers accepted the cash before the CBI team entered the room and identified itself. On seeing the investigators, both officers panicked. Jha threw the bundle of notes behind the table and onto the floor, while Singh pushed the cash lying on her table away and denied having accepted any money.</p>
<p>During the trial, the defence argued that since the money was recovered from the floor, it could not be treated as a direct seizure from the officers. Both officials also claimed they had been falsely implicated as part of a conspiracy.</p>
<p>The CBI, however, presented forensic evidence, witness testimony and other material to establish the transaction. Senior Public Prosecutor Priyanshu Singh told the court that the currency notes used in the trap had been treated with phenolphthalein powder. When the hands and shirt pockets of the officers were washed with sodium carbonate solution, the solution turned deep pink, according to the prosecution.</p>
<p>A forensic laboratory report from Kolkata was also placed before the court to support the case that the officers had handled the marked currency. Independent witnesses who were present during the operation testified that they had seen the exchange of money and then watched the officers throw or push the cash away after the CBI team entered the room. The agency additionally relied on call detail records during the proceedings.</p>
<p>Based on all the evidence presented, the special court found both Jha and Singh guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act and sentenced them to three years of rigorous imprisonment each, with fines.</p>