CBI suspects scam of over Rs 4,000 cr in Railways

Indian Railways is the largest mode of transport in the country in terms of freight movement and weighing is required to plug the leakage of revenue and avoid over-loading of wagons. But the with this revelation, it has been detected that the racket was going on in nexus with government and private players across India.

Surprise checks conducted by agencies revealed that systematic tampering of freights’ weight at many locations leading to the “Electronic In-Motion Weigh Bridge” (EIMWB) a record lower than the actual weight. EIMWBs have been developed in consultation with the Research Development and Standards Organisation (RDSO). Around 200 such bridges have been installed by the Railways at throughout India, in which goods trains passing at a speed of 15 kms per hour are automatically weighed by this system.

However, the agencies acting on a tip-off carried out searches at 65 EIMWB locations, involving major freight traffic points in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, UP, Punjab, Jharkhand, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, MP, Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

It was found that the system has been manipulated in such a manner that over-loading of wagons is concealed and weight is shown within the permissible limit.

“Highly sophisticated methodology of crime by manipulating the software of the system is suspected. It is suspected that the manipulation has been done in collusion with railway officials, private vendors and freight operators. It is not only causing huge financial loss to the government exchequer, but also corresponding gain to private freight operators and private persons. It is also damaging rail tracks, wagons, etc. and is adversely affecting railway safety,” CBI spokesperson said.

“Manipulations in entries pertaining to wagon type have been revealed with consequences for weighment. Not the least, systematic manipulations in weight achieved through tampering of the software, EIMWB hardware, manual entries, etc. lead to significant loss of revenue for the Railways. Even a 5% under-reporting of actual weight of freight leads to a difference of Rs. 4263 Cr by 2012-13 figures,” sources said.