CBI arrests West Central Railway engineer in MP for ₹45,000 bribe
Synopsis
A West Central Railway Senior Section Engineer was caught red-handed by the CBI in Madhya Pradesh's Katni, accepting ₹45,000 at ₹1,500 per labourer to let 30 contract workers keep their jobs. On the same day, the CBI also nabbed a two-decade-long fugitive in a Bihar bank fraud case — signalling a twin crackdown on both active graft and cold-case absconders.
Key Takeaways
Ajayveer Singh , Senior Section Engineer at West Central Railway, New Katni Junction (MP) , was arrested by the CBI on 6 November 2026 .
Singh allegedly demanded ₹45,000 (at ₹1,500 per labourer for 30 labourers ) from a contractor to retain workers on the job.
He was caught red-handed in a CBI trap at Katni and produced before a court in Jabalpur .
The court remanded him to judicial custody until 12 November ; searches were conducted at his home and office.
In a separate case, Raja Bihari , absconding since a bank fraud case filed over two decades ago involving Allahabad Bank's Patna branch , was arrested from Punpun, Bihar .
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday, 6 November arrested Ajayveer Singh, a Senior Section Engineer with West Central Railway posted at New Katni Junction in Madhya Pradesh's Katni, after he was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of ₹45,000 from a labour contractor. The arrest follows a complaint filed by the contractor and a case registered by the CBI on Thursday.
How the Trap Was Laid
According to the CBI, Singh allegedly demanded ₹1,500 per labourer for 30 labourers — totalling ₹45,000 — as an unofficial payment in exchange for not removing the contractor's workers from an ongoing assignment. Acting on the complaint, the CBI set up a trap and caught Singh in the act of demanding and accepting the bribe at Katni.
Following the arrest, the agency conducted searches at both the residence and office of the accused, aiming to recover incriminating documents and other relevant evidence, the CBI said in a statement.
Court Remand and Legal Proceedings
Singh was subsequently produced before the competent court at Jabalpur, which remanded him to judicial custody until 12 November. The CBI has not yet disclosed the outcome of the searches carried out at his premises.
This case is part of a broader pattern of CBI action against government officials accused of corruption in public contracts — a category of cases the agency has been prioritising in recent months across central government departments.
Separate Case: Absconding Bank Fraud Accused Held in Bihar
In an unrelated matter, the CBI also arrested a proclaimed offender named Raja Bihari from Punpun in Bihar, nearly two decades after a bank fraud case was first registered against him and 20 other accused persons.
According to the CBI, Bihari allegedly obtained a loan from the Allahabad Bank's Patliputra Colony Branch in Patna in conspiracy with bank officials and middlemen, using forged title deeds, fabricated property documents, and fake guarantor credentials. The CBI filed a charge sheet against all 21 accused on 30 October 2009, and the Special CBI Court took cognisance on 12 November 2009. Bihari had been absconding since the outset of the investigation and had evaded trial for over two decades.
Significance of the Dual Arrests
The two arrests on the same day underline the CBI's continued focus on both active bribery cases and long-pending fugitive recoveries. The Katni case is notable for its specificity — a bribe pegged to a per-head rate for contract labourers — reflecting a form of institutional extortion that disproportionately affects daily-wage workers and small contractors in public infrastructure projects.
The agency has not disclosed further details on the Bihar bank fraud's total loan amount or the status of the remaining accused in that case. Watch for further developments as searches in the Katni case conclude and the court hearing on 12 November approaches.
Point of View
This kind of extortion is a hidden tax that never makes the headlines until a CBI trap is sprung. That a Senior Section Engineer felt confident enough to put a rate card on labourers speaks to the normalisation of such demands in lower-tier public contracting. The simultaneous Bihar arrest, two decades after the charge sheet, is a reminder that the CBI's pending-fugitive list is long — and that some accountability, however delayed, does eventually arrive.
NationPress
6 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Ajayveer Singh arrested by the CBI?
Ajayveer Singh, a Senior Section Engineer with West Central Railway at New Katni Junction in Madhya Pradesh, was arrested on 6 November 2026 for allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹45,000 from a labour contractor. He had reportedly demanded ₹1,500 per labourer for 30 labourers in exchange for not removing them from an ongoing work assignment.
What was the bribe amount and how was it structured?
The bribe totalled ₹45,000, calculated at ₹1,500 per labourer for 30 labourers. According to the CBI, this was demanded as an 'undue advantage' in return for allowing the contractor's workers to continue on the job.
What is Singh's current legal status?
Following his arrest, Singh was produced before the competent court at Jabalpur, which remanded him to judicial custody until 12 November 2026. Searches were also conducted at his residence and office to recover evidence.
Who is Raja Bihari and why was he arrested?
Raja Bihari is a proclaimed offender arrested from Punpun in Bihar in connection with a bank fraud case that dates back over two decades. He allegedly obtained loans from the Allahabad Bank's Patliputra Colony Branch in Patna using forged title deeds, fabricated property documents, and fake guarantor credentials, in conspiracy with bank officials and middlemen. He had been absconding since the case was registered and evaded trial for over 20 years.
How significant is this CBI action against railway officials?
The arrest highlights a persistent pattern of petty corruption in public infrastructure contracting, where officials allegedly levy unofficial charges on contractors to retain labour on government projects. It is part of the CBI's broader drive against graft in central government departments.
