CHANDIGARH: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested an Addl DG-rank officer of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Ludhiana and two private persons including the officer's friend in an alleged bribery case of Rs 3 crore.
A case was registered by the CBI against the three accused, including the DRI officer Chander Shekhar, on a complaint and the agency will produce them before the Competent Court..
It was alleged that in June 2019, DRI Ludhiana had conducted a search at a private clearing agency which provides services to various exporters. In this search, some documents pertaining to an exporter were also seized.
The complainant, a resident of Delhi stated to the CBI that a Clearing House Agent and a close friend of Chander Shekhar demanded Rs 3 crore on behalf of the public servant for ensuring that he would not be implicated by DRI pertaining to recovery of his documents.
Sources said that Shekhar, an IRS officer, had been under the CBI’s scanner after a complaint of bribery as a person who allegedly claimed to be his conduit had been earlier under surveillance of the apex agency.
Sources said that as Shekhar was arrested today, the CBI conducted searched at multiple locations in Ludhiana, Delhi and Noida, which were either linked to the officer or the alleged middleman who was allegedly receiving the bribe of Rs 25 lakh as a first installment out of the total Rs 3 crore.
Besides Shekhar, CBI sleuths arrested Rajesh Dhanda and Anup Joshi who are the alleged private persons. During the questioning, the middleman told the apex agency sleuths that the bribe was allegedly for the officer.
The CBI officials were camping since morning at Shekhar's office located in Ghumar Mandi before going to his residence on Ferozepur Road in Ludhiana.
Shekhar's jurisdiction falls under Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh. It is among the most powerful posting in DRI which is a lead intelligence agency under the Finance Ministry with a special focus on smugglers and narcotics trade. It also trains customs and tax officials in intelligence collection.