Third-party Inspection (TPI) Engineer caught taking Rs 1L bribe

The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) in Gandhidham, Kutch, caught an engineer of a German consulting agency , red-handed accepting bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a contractor in Adipur town.

The accused, Shital Prashad Tripathi, was authorized to conduct third-party inspection (TPI) for various projects of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). He was currently inspecting construction of a six-lane highway between Mundra and Gandhidham.“Kamlesh Valand, representative of a company that was given the contract by NHAI to remove electric wire poles which fall on the six-lane highway route, had lodged a complaint against Tripathi,“ C J Sureja, inspector of ACB Gandhidham, told TOI.

The agency had completed the work and submitted a claim of Rs 82 lakh. NHAI asked TPI agency to carry out inspection and submit the report to pass the claim amount. Tripathi, who was assigned the job to do the inspection, called up Valand saying that the work was not satisfactory and that he could only pass claim of Rs 53 lakh. Valand then asked him to submit a report to the NHAI so that he could claim that amount. “Tripathi demanded Rs 1 lakh from Valand to submit the report,“ said Sureja.“Valand approached us and accordingly we laid a trap at Tripathi's office in Adipur and caught him red-handed while accepting bribe of Rs 1 lakh,“ he added.