INDIA. Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested two defence personnel attached to the Combat Army Aviation Training School (CATS), located at Gandhi Nagar at Nashik in Maharashtra, under graft charges on Thursday night.
Assistant Garrison Engineer Major Himanshi Mishra and Junior Engineer Milind Wadile were nabbed while accepting a bribe of Rs. 1.16 lakh from a contractor to ensure early reimbursement of his bills by the Anti-Corruption Unit of the CBI, Inspector Ranjit Pandey said.
The arrested employees have been remanded to judicial custody. On Friday, the residential premises of the accused were searched by the CBI as part of the further probe.
The Indian Army, reiterating its “Zero Tolerance Stance” against corruption, said that it is providing all assistance to the CBI in its ongoing investigation, launched on October 13 at Military Station Nashik.
An Indian Army statement read that the synergy obtained between both agencies has been praiseworthy, and they have expressed satisfaction with the manner in which the investigations involving a major rank officer and a civil defence employee (junior engineer) presently serving in Military Engineering Services (MES) are ongoing.
The Army authorities have reiterated that any form of malpractice has no place in a disciplined organisation like the Indian Army, and strict disciplinary action will be ensured against the perpetrators, the statement added.
CATS is the alma mater of all aviators and the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) crew of Army Aviation. Its role is to provide combat flying and ground training to all aviators of the Indian Army. CATS was raised in September 2003 as a Category “A” establishment under Army Training Command (ARTRAC).
This is the first time the incident of its employees involved in corruption has come to the fore.
The CBI which recently set up its Anti Corruption unit in Nashik, had arrested a Central GST Superintendent Chandrakant Chavanke, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 8,000 to give the complainant concessions in GST recovery, in August this year.
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