Railgate: CBI tapes reveal Vijay Singla and aides boasted of fixing mega contracts

CHANDIGARH: Railway Board jobs were not the only ones on sale in the cash-for-jobs scandal. Former Union railway minister Pawan Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla, his aides Sandeep Goyal, Ajay Garg and Mahesh Kumar had boasted they could fix railway contracts worth Rs 15,000 crore through various deals, taped conversations mentioned in the CBI chargesheet have revealed.

The agency’s chargesheet , however, discusses in detail only the details of tenders around over Rs 1,000 crore.

“Aglo (Kumar and Singla) ne 15,000 crore de kam karate. Kehnda signalling toh samajh yaar paisa bahut... B**** d eligibility criterion common banana hai GG Tronics (owned by Manjunath ) ke alawa koi comply na kar sake (The two people have already planned works worth Rs 15,000 crore. Kumar told us we should realize how much money we can make in the signalling department),” Goyal told Garg on April 2 this year as mentioned in the 500-page transcript.

On April 14, suspended Railway Board member Kumar shared a prospective Rs 200-crore axle counter deal with accused Goyal. Axle counter is a device on a railway track that detects the passing of a train. “I will mail you two things. Ek toh copy of that proposal for axle counter. Woh ban gaya kareeb 200 (crore) plus ka hoga Western Railway ka. Usko pink book mai daalega.. shuru karega... wahan finance vetting wagera hogi Board mai,” Kumar told Goyal.

In the same conversation, he shared information about another Rs 300 crore deal for setting up a food plaza and multinational bank on 1,500 square feet land. “Aur doosra woh bhejoonga jo chitthi MD, IRCTC ko hamne likh di hai ki humne paanch jagah par 1500 square feet ka space ke liye identify kar liya hai,” the chargesheet quotes Kumar. “And we want ki isme multinational bank and food plaza ke liye tender kar diya jaaye aur copy uski maine de di hai addtiional member catering ko.”

The conversation continued on more business transactions as Kumar assured Goyal that he is even opening a tender for 4,000 fans. “Accha accha , doosra ek aur cheez woh 4,000 next week mai koshish yeh kar raha hoon ki tumhare 4,000 fan ka tender nikaale. Inko stock item banake isko AC (annual contract) mai dalwa diya hai kyon,” said Kumar.

In another April 17 conversation between the two, Kumar talked about another Rs 200-crore proposal to set up pantry cars.