The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested a Lt Col and a subedar major along with two private contractors in a bribery case related to awarding tenders at Ambala Cantonment.
The accused have been identified as Lt Col Rahul Pawar, Senior Barracks Store Officer, Military Engineer Services (MES), and Subedar Major Pardeep Kumar (MES), Ambala Cantt.
They both have been taken into custody and two contractors — Dinesh Kumar of Kurukshetra and Pritpal of Ambala — have been arrested, CBI officials said.
A team of Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of CBI, Chandigarh, had laid a trap and caught all four red-handed during the bribe transaction of Rs 22.48 lakh.
During searches, the agency recovered Rs 32.5 lakh and incriminating documents from the premises of the Lt Col, and Rs 16 lakh was also recovered from the possession of the two contractors, it said.
CBI officials said that a case was registered against the two Army officials for demanding bribe. “They had allegedly taken the bribe against the assurance that most of tenders/orders from the Ambala Cantonment would be awarded to the two private contractors,” the CBI said in a statement.
A senior CBI officer said that the Army officers and the two contractors were arrested following a tip-off. “They were all apprehended in Ambala late on Saturday and were arrested on Sunday. Raids are going on at their residences in Ambala and Kurukshetra. They will be produced in the Special CBI court, Panchkula, on Monday. We have already intimated Army authorities about the arrests,” he said, adding that a case against the four accused has been registered at CBI Zonal headquarters, Sector 30, Chandigarh.