Title - Exclusive: CBI report lands Railway Minister Pawan Bansal in deeper mess

The 'great rail robbery' may lead to the door of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. Investigations by Mail Today reveal that the rot of bribery runs much deeper, and with new facts coming to the fore, the prime minister may be left with no choice but to show his tainted railway minister the red light.

Damning revelations by the arrested member of the Railway Board, Mahesh Kumar, suggest that the railway minister and his personal secretary Rahul Bhandari, who too was quizzed by the CBI on Thursday, played a key role in the bribe deals. According to the investigation report, accessed by Mail Today, on April 17, Kumar met Pawan Kumar Bansal in Mumbai and requested him to promote him as member (electrical) in the Railway Board.

Kumar met 'MR' (Minister of Railways) again on April 29 with the same request. He was told by the minister that his file had already been sent to the Prime Minister's Office, recommending him as member (staff) and his original request would be looked into at a later stage.

April 7 meet

The investigation also reveals that on April 7, Kumar drove down to Bansal's residence at 6 Ashoka Road where Singla, Narayan Rao Manjunath, managing director of the Bangalore-based G.G. Tronics India Private Limited, and Sandeep Goyal, who owns a Panchkula (Haryana)-based company manufacturing electrical equipment for the railways, were also present.

The bribe was financed on Kumar's behalf by Manjunath. Interestingly, while the initial deal was for Rs.10 crore, Kumar reportedly bargained to settle for Rs.5 crore.

Kumar was anxious about his posting, and in order to reassure him that his job will be done, Goyal spoke to him on April 17. Goyal asked him to speak to Singla, who was sitting at the residence of the railway minister, on a number - 011-23782812. Kumar spoke to Singla on the same number.

"It is revealed that the said telephone number is allotted to the official residence of the minister of railways," the report said.

Number game

Mail Today reconfirmed the detail and it turned out that the number is actually listed as the official residential number for the railway minister in the Railway Board telephone directory. Mail Today called on the number and spoke to Bansal's assistant George. Attempts to reach to Bansal or his personal secretary failed as their mobile phones were switched off.

The railway minister, who assumed charge last December, had earlier said: "I have always observed the highest standards of probity in public life and look forward to an expeditious investigation by the CBI in the matter. I had no knowledge about the (bribe) matter at all."

The CBI's investigation, however, may tear through his defence. What is even more serious is a conversation recorded by the agency between Manjunath and Kumar on May 1. Manjunath asked Kumar whether the railway minister was aware of his posting as member (electrical), which was part of the cash-forpost deal. Kumar replied: "That MR was aware of his ML (member, electrical) and he (Bansal) was very clear about it."

Sources say it is a damning confession and Kumar has also admitted in his interrogation that the railway minister was aware of the deal. Also part of the deal was that the charge of the general manager of Western Railway, which Kumar was holding, would stay with him.

Other deals

On May 1, Kumar also spoke to middleman Goyal who assured him that the charge of GM, Western Railway, will be given to him "as per commitment".

Kumar also told Goyal that he had spoken to Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal who assured him that if the minister of railways puts in a word, he would be given the additional charge of GM, Western Railway. Kumar was keen to retain the charge and so Goyal had another conversation with Singla in which the latter reassured Goyal that Kumar would be given the additional charge.

Another vital revelation in the 'great rail robbery', which the CBI hopes to unravel, is that there were multiple deals being fixed.

According to the report, Goyal's interrogation has revealed that he allegedly paid Rs.10 lakh to Bhandari for securing "lucrative posting" of Narottam Das as chief engineer, rail coach factory, Kapurthala. Another posting that the agency believes was swung by Bhandari was for Dayal Arya as controller of stores, Chitranjan Loco Works.

From the investigation report and transcripts it seems that the middlemen had special blessings of the railway minister. Goyal had informed Kumar and Manjunath that the Railway Board chairman was to retire in June and would be replaced by the present member (electrical). He gave the assurance that once the new chairman took charge, he would get Kumar his desired post.