The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the Project Director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Shillong, identified as Aanand Singh Chouhan, alongside two private individuals, for allegedly demanding a ₹12-lakh bribe from a contractor to clear a pending bill. The action follows a formal case registered on July 1 based on a complaint alleging that Chouhan demanded the illicit payout to process an outstanding invoice totaling ₹13.38 crore. According to the investigation, the public servant instructed the complainant to pay an advance installment of ₹4 lakh and directed him to route the transaction through intermediaries in Guwahati.
The agency uncovered an intricate distribution ring involving both localized drop-offs and interstate financial networks. Chouhan allegedly shared a WhatsApp photo of a specific ₹10 currency note to be used as a verification token for a hawala channel, instructing that the total bribe amount be funneled to a contact named ‘Meena’ in Jaipur. Acting on the intelligence, the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) laid a trap in Guwahati and caught the private accomplices—identified as Punit Agarwal and Manish Agarwal—red-handed while demanding and accepting the ₹4-lakh advance payment. Following the operation, all three individuals were taken into custody, their residential and official premises were searched, and a special court granted a two-day CBI remand to facilitate deeper investigations into the conspiracy.