M A I N   N E W S

Cases against BSNL, MTNL officials for bribe

New Delhi, October 2
The CBI has registered a case against some officials of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and representatives of private companies for paying illegal gratification to government servants and possessing classified secret documents.

CBI sources said today that the case was filed against the owner and an employee of Nirvan Group of Companies, two employees of the United Telecom Ltd, an employee of the Motorola India Pvt Ltd, the Motorola India Pvt Ltd, Gurgaon, and unknown public servants of the MTNL and the BSNL for influencing public servants through illegal gratification and possession of classified secret documents.

After registering the case, agency sleuths carried out searches at the offices of Nirvan Group of Companies in the Capital and the Motorola India Pvt Ltd at Gurgaon.

Searches were also carried out at the residence of the owner of the Nirvan Group of Companies at Sainik Farm here.

During the searches, a few computers, a laptop, a mobile phone and files relating to the MTNL and the BSNL were found in the offices of Nirvan Group and Motorola. The files and computer datas are under scrutiny.

The sources said reliable information was received that the owner of the Nirvan Group of Companies was acting as middleman for Motorola India Pvt Ltd, to influence public servants of the BSNL and the MTNL and providing them illegal gratification.

The Motorola India Private Limited has been bidding for obtaining contracts against tenders floated by the BSNL and the MTNL.

Further information was received that Rs 50 lakh was being provided to the owner of the Nirvan Group of Companies through another private telecom company, the United Telecom Ltd which is a sub-contractor of the Motorola India Pvt Ltd, for using this money as illegal gratification to public servants.

This information was shared with Income Tax officials who conducted raids in the office of Nirvan Group of Companies and recovered the amount of Rs 50 lakh delivered by the Marketing Manager of United Telecom Ltd to the employee of Nirvan Group.

Searches in the office of Nirvan Group by Income Tax officials led to the recovery of a classified secret document of the Central Government. A copy of an e-mail sent by an employee of the Motorola India Pvt Ltd to the owner of Nirvan Group, in which he had asked to use his personal influence with the MTNL to take care of the technical aspects of the Motorola bids, was also seized. — UNI