CBI arrests ED assistant director for accepting Rs 20 lakh bribe | DelhiNews

NEW DELHI: CBI has arrested an assistant director of Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged bribery case. The accused, identified as Sandeep Singhwas apprehended while accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh, the agency said. Subsequent to CBI’s raid, ED initiated a money laundering probe against his officer and registered a case against him. CBI and ED had jointly raided the officer’s office and house.
Singh has been placed under suspension and is being repatriated to his parent department from ED. Singh, who was attached to the headquarters investigative unit of the agency in Delhi, was allegedly trying to extort money from a jeweler who was under investigation by ED.
The probe found that Singh was not even the investigating officer of the case in which he was taking the bribe.
“He was requisitioned for the limited purpose of conducting the search at the target premises. However, Singh represented himself as the investigating officer and allegedly accepted the bribe for favoring the accused, although he was in no way connected with the case being investigated,” CBI said.
The jeweler filed a complaint with CBI, prompting the agency to initiate an investigation. CBI teams placed Singh’s phone under surveillance and gathered evidence of the alleged bribery before carrying out a trap operation.
Singh was caught by CBI in Delhi around 11.30 pm on Aug 7 along with cash worth Rs 20 lakh, which he had allegedly extorted from the individual under investigation by ED.
“A handwritten complaint, dated Aug 6, was submitted by one Vipul Harish Thakkar, leveling allegations against Sandeep Singh, assistant director, and Alok Kumar Pankaj, enforcement officer (EO), ED HQ, investigation unit-1, New Delhi. Verification of the complaint, conducted in the presence of independent witnesses, prima facie unveiled an act of criminal conspiracy allegedly orchestrated by Singh in collusion with unidentified accomplices,” CBI’s FIR said.
In a statement, ED said, “Taking immediate awareness of this incident and following the policy of zero tolerance towards corruptionED has initiated criminal action against Sandeep Singh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. An ECIR is registered against him and a search operation conducted at his residence on Aug 8 under the provisions of PMLA by ED so as to gather evidence of his criminal activities.