CBI seizes Rs 2.62 crore cash, luxury assets from NHIDCL official in Guwahati bribery case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has uncovered assets worth several crores from an Executive Director of the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), following his arrest in a bribery case earlier this week.

The officer, posted at NHIDCL’s Regional Office in Guwahati, was caught red-handed on October 14 while allegedly accepting a Rs 10 lakh bribe from a private individual. The payment was reportedly meant to secure a favourable extension of time and a completion certificate for a highway construction project in Assam.

Subsequent raids at his premises in Guwahati, Ghaziabad, and Imphal led to the recovery of Rs 2.62 crore in cash, along with documents pointing to extensive investments in high-value assets. These include nine luxury apartments, one premium office space, and three residential plots in Delhi-NCR; a premium apartment and residential plot in Bengaluru; four apartments and two plots in Guwahati; and multiple land holdings in Imphal West.

Investigators also seized documents related to six high-end vehicles, two luxury watches valued in lakhs, and a 100-gram silver bar. According to CBI, many of the properties appear to have been purchased at undervalued prices and are under verification.

The agency had registered the case based on source information against the NHIDCL officer and two representatives of a private company involved in the four-laning of National Highway-37 between Demow and Moran Bypass, among other projects.

Both the public servant and the private individual were produced before the Special CBI Court in Guwahati and remanded to three days of police custody as the investigation continues.