CBI arrests Power Grid executive director, 5 Tata Projects officials in graft case
New Delhi, Jul 7: The CBI has arrested a Power Grid Corporation of India's executive director and five officials of Tata Projects, including an executive vice president and and assistant VP, in connection with alleged bribery to favour the private company in contracts and other works, officials said on Thursday.
They said the probe agency arrested the accused -- PGCIL's B S Jha, and Tata Projects' Executive VP Desh Raj Pathak, Assistant VP R N Singh and its three other officials -- after conducting searches at 11 locations on Wednesday which continued till Thursday.
The CBI recovered Rs 93 lakh from the premises of Jha in Gurugram, they said.
The CBI had received source information about the alleged bribery in electricity projects following which Jha, who was posted in Itanagar, was put under surveillance. During the surveillance, it surfaced that Jha was allegedly receiving bribes from the executives of Tata Projects for granting favours, the officials said.
The CBI action followed an FIR against Jha, Pathak and Singh.
The company Tata Projects and its three other officials -- Nafeej Hussain Khan, Randheer Kumar Singh and Sandeep Kumar Dubey -- are also named as accused in the FIR.
"It was alleged that the public servant (Jha) in conspiracy with others was involved in extending favours to the said company (Tata Projects) for various work viz. preparation of inflated bills, early clearing of bills, price variation clause, etc related to contracts of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited in lieu of demand and acceptance of illegal gratification," a statement from the CBI said.
According to the source information, which became basis for the FIR, Tata Projects was given the contracts under World Bank-funded North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project, a comprehensive scheme for improving power infrastructure of the region, officials in the agency said.
Later in a formal statement, the CBI said the company had bagged tenders pertaining to "a comprehensive scheme for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim".
World Bank-funded North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project does not cover Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, according to Power Grid Corporation officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
"We adhere to strong norms in all our business transactions and have zero tolerance to any compromise on the same. We would extend our complete support to the relevant authorities," a spokesperson of Tata Projects said.
Officials in the Power Grid Corporation claimed that Jha was posted as Executive Director in Comprehensive T and D Scheme of Arunachal Pradesh.
The role of Desh Raj Pathak, Executive Vice President and SBU Head (Transmission & Distribution) India , SAARC and SEA at Tata Projects Limited; and R N Singh, AVP Business Head--Distribution came to the fore while the CBI was keeping an eye on Jha's activities.
All the six arrested accused were produced before Panchkula court on Thursday which sent them to CBI custody till July 15, the officials added.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
