Micromax co-founder Rajesh Agarwal arrested in bribery case

CBI has arrested Micromax co-founder Rajesh Agarwal and Manish Tuli for allegedly giving Rs 30 lakh bribe to Delhi Municipal Corporation engineers to obtain clearance for constructing a banquet hall.

Micromax is the second largest smartphone maker in India in Q1 2013

According to CBI sources, they received a tip-off that Agarwal and Tuli had entered into a deal with the engineers of the MCD to get clearance for constructing a banquet hall in the Wazirpur area in exchange of bribe of Rs 50 lakh.

CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra confirmed the arrest.

Besides Rajesh Agarwal and Manish Tuli, CBI sleuths arrested two junior officials of MCD and carried out searches at 15 locations including residential and official premises of the MCD officers.

The sources alleged that Agarwal and Tuli negotiated with the MCD officials and brought down the alleged bribe amount from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

It was also agreed that the illegal gratification will be allegedly paid to the two junior officials of the civic body.

After getting the information that the alleged bribe is to be paid at the Timarpur office of Agarwal and Tuli, a team of CBI rushed to the spot. During the operation, the agency allegedly caught Tuli and Agarwal handing over Rs 30 lakh to the MCD men who were there to collect the amount on behalf of a superintendent engineer, an executive engineer and two junior engineers, all part of the conspiracy.

According to Micromax website, Rajesh Agarwal, co-founder of Micromax Informatics, is a key force behind one of the largest mobile brands in India in terms of volumes.

Rajesh has been instrumental in advocating innovative product strategies, business restructuring and channel management as the building blocks to create a strong base for the organization.