LUCKNOW: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Lucknow unit has arrested a senior railway officer of the North Eastern Railway (NER), Varanasi Division, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1.70 lakh from a contractor in exchange for clearing pending payments and facilitating the release of dues.According to the CBI, the action followed a complaint lodged by a Government e-Marketplace (GeM)-registered contractor, who alleged that Neetesh Agarwal, Senior Divisional Materials Manager (Sr. DMM), North Eastern Railway, Varanasi, had demanded an undue advantage as a reward for processing earlier payments related to materials supplied by the contractor and for approving the contractor’s pending bills.Acting on the complaint, officers of the CBI’s Lucknow Branch registered a case and laid a trap on July 23, 2026. During the operation, the agency allegedly caught the accused officer red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹1.70 lakh from the complainant.The accused railway officer was immediately taken into custody. The CBI said he has been arrested and will be produced before the Court of the Special Judge, CBI Court No. 3, Lucknow, for further legal proceedings.The investigation into the case is continuing.
