NEW DELHI: CBI has arrested K B Singh, the Executive Director of the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), a Public Sector Undertaking. He was apprehended in connection with a bribery case involving a sum of Rs 50 lakhs. Singh's arrest followed an extensive raid at his residence in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Four other people including the individual who provided the bribe have also been taken into custody. CBI sources have disclosed that Singh accepted the bribe in exchange for manipulating the awarding of gas pipeline contracts. Among those arrested is Surender Kumar of Advance Infrastructures in Vadodara, Gujarat, a company operating in the oil and gas infrastructure sector.

Additionally, simultaneous raids were conducted in Delhi and Visakhapatnam, apart from Noida. The individuals arrested will undergo thorough interrogation. GAIL is the largest natural gas distribution company in the country.

This development represents a significant breakthrough. Contracts for two major projects, the 744-km pipeline from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh to Angul in Odisha and the pipeline from Vijaypur in Madhya Pradesh to Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh had been compromised.

It was discovered that K B Singh received 50 lakhs as a bribe to favour the private company in securing the contracts for these two substantial projects. These raids were carried out based on confidential information received by the authorities.