The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered two cases against two retired Southern Railway engineers and private persons over alleged irregularities in the construction of minor bridges and reinforced cement concrete (RCC) retaining walls on the Madurai-Tuticorin broad-gauge line, officials said on Saturday. The alleged violations, linked to work in Tuticorin district, are estimated to have caused a loss of about Rs 4.01 crore to the Railways.

Source: UrbanAcres

The cases were registered by the CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch in Madurai and concern the 17.75-km Milavittan-Melamarudur section, part of the proposed Madurai-Tuticorin route, which the Railway Board sanctioned in March 2014 at an estimated cost of Rs 120.70 crore, according to the FIRs. Retired deputy chief engineer Muhammed Salaiya is named in both FIRs; retired executive engineer William Jai, contractor Y Chinna Reddy and Madurai resident M Sulochana are named in the cases.

Source: The 420

In the first case, the CBI has alleged that Salaiya conspired with contractor Y Chinna Reddy to build two minor bridges where only one had been approved, without prior approval from the competent authority. The contract was awarded on October 3, 2016, and the bridges were completed on July 10, 2017, at a cost of Rs 3.59 crore. Investigators alleged the two structures stand within 30 metres of each other on the same waterway, were built about four metres above the approved level, and that a proposal seeking approval was initiated only on May 24, 2019 — nearly two years after completion.

The second FIR alleges that Salaiya and Jai conspired with M Sulochana during 2016-17 to build RCC retaining walls without following prescribed railway procedures. The CBI alleged the walls were built before the bridge work, were left with inadequate width and were later buried by earth formation, rendering them unusable, causing an alleged loss of about Rs 1.44 crore.

According to the reports, the Railway Board had sought permission to investigate five Southern Railway officials; the then railway minister permitted investigation against the two retired officials, Salaiya and Jai, but denied permission against former chief engineer Thavamani Pandi, former deputy chief engineer R Nandagopal and former executive engineer M Ganesh. All the allegations in the FIRs are yet to be established through investigation and legal proceedings.