In a major crackdown on corruption, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested two senior engineers of the Puducherry Public Works Department (PWD) and a private contractor in connection with a bribery case involving government contracts. The agency also seized unaccounted cash worth Rs75.5 lakh during raids in Puducherry and Karaikal.
The arrested individuals have been identified as M Dhinadayalan (58), Chief Engineer, R Chidambaranathan (58), Executive Engineer (Buildings and Roads), and Ilamurugu, a contractor from Mannargudi in Tamil Nadu.
The arrests followed a 20-hour-long interrogation that began Saturday afternoon after the suspects were detained at a private hotel in Karaikal, where they were allegedly meeting contractors under suspicious circumstances. Dhinadayalan had reportedly traveled to Karaikal to inspect civic works but was later found in a closed-door meeting with several contractors.
Following the tip-off, CBI teams raided multiple locations, including homes and offices of the accused. The searches led to the recovery of:
Rs2 lakh in cash from Chidambaranathan at the hotel
Rs50,000 from Ilamurugu’s vehicle
Rs65 lakh from Dhinadayalan’s house
Rs8 lakh from Chidambaranathan’s residence
Several incriminating documents
According to the CBI, Chidambaranathan had awarded a road contract worth Rs7.44 crore with the alleged condition that nearly Rs6 lakh in commission be paid to Dhinadayalan for timely clearance. He was caught red-handed accepting Rs2 lakh as a bribe from the contractor at the hotel.
The trio were produced before a judicial magistrate in Karaikal and remanded to judicial custody. The remaining detained officials were released after questioning. All three underwent a medical check-up at Karaikal General Hospital after reporting health issues during custody.
