The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Bhopal, has registered a Regular Case (RC) against an Indore-based firm and several unknown public servants following a shocking discovery involving the supply of fraudulent medals to the Indian Railways.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered on March 25, 2026, the agency is investigating a criminal conspiracy involving forgery and misconduct related to a purchase order for 3,640 gold-plated silver medals destined for the West Central Railway (WCR), Jabalpur.
The contract, valued at approximately ₹49.68 lakh, was awarded to M/s Viable Diamonds, Indore, under the directorship of Vipul Jain. While 3,631 medals were delivered to the General Store Depot (GSD) in Nishatpura, Bhopal, in October 2023, subsequent forensic testing has revealed that the “silver” medals were almost entirely composed of base metals.
The investigation has cast a long shadow over the initial quality controls as an inspecting engineer from RITES had previously certified the material as meeting specifications, even claiming a silver purity of 99.90% during inspections in late 2023.
However, the facade crumbled during a surprise vigilance check conducted by WCR officers in September 2025, which prompted fresh sampling and testing at the National Testing House in Kolkata and Shree Ram Testing Laboratories.
These updated lab results provided the most damning evidence of the scam, revealing that the silver content in the medals was a negligible 0.0023%, while the copper content was a staggering 99.80%.
In response to these corroborated allegations, the CBI has booked M/s Viable Diamonds and unknown officials under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 120-B for criminal conspiracy and Section 420 for cheating, alongside charges of forgery and criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case is now being spearheaded by Akash Kumar Meena, Assistant Superintendent of Police, ACB, Bhopal, as the agency looks to identify the “insiders” who may have facilitated the switch from silver to copper.
This investigation highlights a grave breach of trust within the railway’s procurement system, where high-value honors were substituted with cheap imitations right under the noses of official inspectors.
