New Delhi, May 19: The CBI has arrested three customs officials for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs four lakh from a television screen importer, officials said on Wednesday.
The central agency took into custody superintendents Surendra Singh and Ajeet Kumar and Inspector Sandeep Rathi, all posted at the Customs'' Inland Container Depot, Tughlakabad, during a trap operation, when they were allegedly receiving the first installment of Rs four lakh of a Rs-10 lakh bribe demanded by them, the officials said.
Siddarth Sharma of the Sonepat-based Adsun Electronics Private Limited had alleged that the accused officials had demanded a bribe of Rs 15 lakh for clearing a consignment of open cells (television screens) imported by his company and an additional amount of Rs 50,000 for every container cleared in the last four months.
"The accused allegedly agreed to accept Rs 10 lakh in installments and the first installment of Rs four lakh was to be paid," Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Spokesperson RC Joshi said in a statement.
On receiving the information and a successful verification of the allegations, CBI sleuths laid a trap before the meeting was scheduled to take place.
When the bribe was being given, the CBI teams raided the location and caught Singh red-handed, the officials said.
Subsequently, Kumar and Rathi were also taken into custody, they added.
"Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused in Delhi-NCR, which led to the recovery of cash and incriminating documents," Joshi said.
During the searches at the residences of the accused, an amount of around Rs 11 lakh in cash was recovered from Singh, while Rs nine lakh were recovered from Kumar, the officials said. - PTI
