India police arrests NALCO chairman in bribery case

NEW DELHI: India's federal police has arrested the chairman of state-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) for bribery, adding headache to a government already under fire for corruption scandals.

NALCO is the country's third-largest producer of aluminium.

The Congress-led ruling coalition is under criticism over several graft scandals, including a $39 billion telecom licence scam.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave in on Tuesday to opposition demands for a parliamentary probe into the multi-billion dollar scandal over sales of telecoms licenses for kickbacks, a setback for his embattled government and a victory for the opposition.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement issued late on Friday that NALCO's chairman and managing director, A.K. Srivastava, had accepted a bribe of 3 kg gold through his wife, who was also arrested.

NALCO confirmed the arrest but declined to comment further, and the chairman's lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

The CBI said it has recovered another 7 kg gold and about 3 million rupees in cash from the couple.