Lucknow, Nov 2 (IANS) A senior railway officer who was arrested here Saturday by the Central Bureau of Investigation while accepting a bribe of Rs.70,000 has been placed under suspension, an official said Monday.
The officer, K.M. Tripathi, has assests that allegedly run into several crore of rupees, a CBI source told IANS Monday.

Tripathi, who was currently posted as chief regional manager of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in Lucknow, was trapped while accepting bribe from a contractor.

On being contacted, IRCTC managing director Rakesh Tandon told IANS over telephone from New Delhi: “Tripathi was already deemed to be under suspension as per the central government regulations, which prescribe suspension for any government official who remains in jail for more than 48 hours.”

He said, “Since the special CBI court has already remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days, he stood suspended automatically.”

However, “formal departmental proceedings against him would follow shortly”, he added.

Three cases have already been registered against Tripathi. Of these, one was related to his being caught red-handed while accepting bribe, the second case was about his owning or holding disproportionate assets, stated to be more than Rs.3 crore. He belongs to the 1987 batch of the elite Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS).

The third case was filed by the police for possession of a prohibited 9 mm pistol, believed to be the “stolen” property of the Uttar Pradesh police.

According to a senior police officer here, “the marking on the pistol indicates that it belonged to the UP police. It had been stolen some years ago from a sub-inspector in Gorakhpur.”

Tripathi, who hails from Gorakhpur, was known to often brag about his close proximity to a mafia-don-turned-politician of that city, through whom he allegedly acquired the Service weapon.