In a rare gesture, the Central Bureau of Investigation has gone an extra mile to register a bribe complaint given by a farmer in Madhya Pradesh against officials of a public sector coal company who allegedly sought gratification for releasing the compensation money due to the former after acquisition of his agricultural land.
Farmer Sanjeev Kumar Singh of Singrauli district first tried to seek CBI’s help by lodging a complaint over the phone. However, the probe agency asked him to come to its office in Jabalpur and give a written complaint. When Singh couldn’t travel to Jabalpur to file a complaint, the anti-corruption federal agency dispatched an officer to his residence to receive his written complaint.
Singh has sought action against two officials of NCL who had demanded Rs 2 lakh bribe from him in exchange for sanctioning the amount of Rs 2.06 crore towards compensation against his land acquired by the NCL.
On the basis of Singh’s complaint, the CBI has now registered an FIR against Sayeed Ghori, general manager, Block B Area, NCL, and Chandramohan Gupta, deputy manager (mining), for demanding illegal gratification. The case has been registered under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, with a maximum punishment of seven years, and penal provisions related to criminal conspiracy.
During the course of verification of Singh’s complaint, it was found by CBI investigators that after negotiation, the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 1.80 lakh and accused Chandramohan Gupta had also agreed to accept part-bribe amount of Rs 40,000 as a first installment.
The prompt action by the CBI has won hearts in Singh’s village Pachkhera, Waidhan, after he shared his story with other residents of the tribal belt. The complainant had first tried to lodge his complaint on phone on October 4, 2023 but he was advised to give a written complaint. When Singh cited the long distance between his village and Jabalpur, where the office of SP, CBI, is situated, the probe agency offered to come to his help. After CBI sub-inspector Sandeep Singh met Singh and took his written complaint he tried to verify it as well. The complaint was verified in the presence of an independent witness.
Since 2017, NCL, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has been acquiring the area around Morwa town and ten adjoining villages, for developing coal mines in the area. The region is rich in reserves of power grade coal and this is the reason why it is also described as the energy capital of the country.
