In a massive crackdown, the Central Bureau of Agency (CBI) on Tuesday said it has arrested 26 railway officials including a senior divisional electrical engineer of East Cental Railway for allegedly leaking papers of a departmental examination and seized `1.17 crore cash during its raids.
The railway officials were arrested on Monday night for allegedly leaking papers of examination for the elevation to posts of chief loco pilot at Mughal Sarai, the agency said, adding the exam was to be conducted on Tuesday. Sources in the agency said that the examination has now been cancelled.
The arrest has come just a fortnight after the central probe agency had arrested five railway officers, including two of the Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) posted at the Vadodara Division, for alleged bribery in favouring candidates in departmental examination, officials said on Wednesday.
“During the checks conducted by CBI, at three spots on the intervening night (March 3-4) at Mughal Sarai, a total of 17 candidates were found with photocopies of hand-written question papers,†a CBI spokesperson said.
All 17 departmental candidates who are presently working as loco pilots had allegedly paid money for the question paper and were caught red-handed with the copies during the raid, he said. “Overall, 26 railway officials (including the 17 aspirants) have been arrested in this case so far,†the spokesperson said in a statement.
The agency has registered the FIR against a senior divisional electrical engineer (operations) who was given the responsibility for setting and preparing the question paper for the said examination. “He himself had written the questions in English and allegedly gave it to one loco pilot who in turn translated it into Hindi and further gave it to another official. The said official allegedly gave it to the candidates through few other railway employees,†the spokesperson said.
Accused senior divisional electrical engineer (operations) is among the arrested officials, he said. “Searches were conducted at eight locations which resulted in recovery of `1.17 crore in cash. The amount was reportedly collected from the candidates for leaking the question papers.
“The hand-written question papers along with their photocopies were seized. These question papers have been tallied with the original question paper and were found to have matched,†the spokesperson said.
On February 19, 2025, CBI arrested 2008-batch IRPS officer Sunil Bishnoi posted as a senior divisional personnel officer in Vadodara, 2018-batch IRPS officer Ankush Wasan, posted as divisional personnel officer there, Deputy Chief Commercial Manager Sanjay Kumar Tiwari posted at Mumbai’s Churchgate, Deputy Station Superintendent Neeraj Sinha and Nursing Superintendent Dinesh Kumar posted at Divisional Railway Hospital in Ahmedabad, officials said. The agency has also arrested Mukesh Meena in the case, they said.
The federal probe agency seized 650 grams of gold and `5 lakh cash during its searches at 11 locations, including in Gujarat’s Vadodara, a CBI spokesperson said.
