Suspecting a major Railway scam of over Rs 4,000 crore, CBI is likely to file a case soon into alleged manipulation in reporting the actual weight of loaded goods wagons. In FY 2012-13, railways transported 1,008 million metric tonnes of freight and earned Rs 85,262 crore through it, which constituted 67% of the total revenue for the period.
According to the procedure, the goods were required to be weighed at the originating station or en route or at the destination point with a view to plug the leakage of revenue and to avoid over-loading of the wagons.
However, CBI officials found this system to be manipulated at several places in such a way that over-loading was concealed and weight of the wagon appeared to be within the permissible limit. It also suspected the involvement of highly sophisticated methodology of crime for manipulating the software of system and believed involvement of railway officials, private vendors and freight operators for alleged manipulation. CBI officials pointed that even 5% under-reporting of actual weight of freight could lead to a difference of Rs 4,263 crore by 2012-13.
Railways had in consultation with Research Development and Standards Organization (RDSO) installed 200 'Electronic In-Motion Weigh Bridges' at various locations across the country to weigh the freight in transit. A total of six vendors were roped in by RDSO for setting up the bridges, which automatically measured the weight of goods train wagons passing through them at a speed of 15-km per hour.
However, during the surprise operation, CBI found 'systematic' under-weighing with the system programmed to give readings which were lower than the actual weight. It found that the quantum of under-weighing increased with an increase in speed of the rake at some of the locations. Notably, also the preliminary digital analysis of the forensic image taken at some of the locations revealed old weighing logs showing past manipulations in weighing.
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