Railway bribery: Mahesh Kumar may have known about raids

New Delhi: The information on Central Bureau of Information (CBI) raids on Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar may have been leaked, according to sources. Sources say Mahesh Kumar may have been tipped off about the CBI raids.

Mahesh Kumar allegedly removed incriminating documents from his house and other locations, according to sources. The CBI has initiated an internal inquiry on the suspected leak.

Meanwhile, CBI sources say there is no direct money trail established in the Railway bribery case with Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal so far. Sources say he can be questioned, but not before the CBI finds enough leads to warrant the questioning.

The agency on Thursday grilled the minister's personal secretary Rahul Bhandari, a 1997 batch Punjab cadre IAS officer, who is believed to be privy to all the crucial decisions taken in the ministry.

The sources said before approaching Bansal, the agency is likely to examine his OSD Vitul Kumar, an 1993-batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, who is his sister's son-in-law. Vitul would be the second official working in the Minister's office under the CBI scanner after Bhandari. Bhandari faced tough questions from the CBI on transfers and postings in the ministry.

(With additional information from PTI)