CBI swoops down on 4 of its own for ‘accepting bribes’

CBI swoops down on 4 of its own for ‘accepting bribes’

2 Deputy SPs & Inspector Among Them

Rajshekhar.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  15.01.2021

In a major embarrassment for the country’s premier investigative agency, at least four CBI officials including a deputy superintendent (DySP) are in the dock for allegedly accepting bribes and favours from a company which is being probed by the agency in bank fraud cases.

The agency on Thursday confirmed it had filed an FIR against the four officials including the DySP, inspector and a steno apart from private individuals and advocates on the allegations of compromising the investigation on “extraneous pecuniary considerations”. CBI also raided their houses and offices and a spokesperson confirmed that searches were conducted at 14 locations including Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon, Meerut and Kanpur. The searches continued till late on Thursday .

Those under scanner have been identified as Dy SP RK Rishi from the CBI Academy, Ghaziabad, Sameer Kumar Singh, stenographer (BS&FC, Delhi HQ), inspector Kapil Dhankad and DySP (SCII) R K Sangwan. A source said searches were also being carried out inside the CBI headquarters as there are allegations that the accused took bribe inside the office and were allegedly on the payroll of the company being probed by the agency for bank fraud. The developments come at a time when CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla has around a month’s time left to relinquish office.

According to sources, the CBI had filed an FIR against a Mumbai-based company for duping a consortium of 14 banks of over Rs 3,500 crore. The directors of the company were accused of siphoning off funds by setting up shell companies. This case was under probe by the banking fraud unit of the CBI. Sometime ago, allegations surfaced that the officials of CBI were conniving with promoters to provide relief. The anti-corruption unit of CBI swung into action after receiving complaints regarding its officials and mounted surveillance on them.

Preliminary enquiries revealed that the officials were in touch with certain individuals who were acting as the middlemen for the company. Subsequently, the CBI chief ordered registration of an FIR against these officials. The case was registered under sections of IPC apart from the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI is learnt to have traced certain financial transactions whose beneficiaries were its own officials.

Searches were also carried out at the CBI headquarters. The accused are alleged to have taken bribes from a company being probed for Rs 3,500cr bank fraud