CBI arrests ED official in Rs 20 lakh bribery case

Mumbai : The CBI has arrested a top Enforcement Directorate officer while he was accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a Mumbai-based jeweller, officials said on Thursday.

Sandeep Singh Yadav, the Assistant Director of the central agency responsible for probing money laundering cases, allegedly extorted the sum from an individual under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate in exchange for favours in the case.

He was caught by the CBI's Mumbai unit in New Delhi on Wednesday night, the officers said. According to the CBI chargesheet, the Enforcement Directorate had conducted searches at the jeweller's premises on August 3 and 4. Subsequently, Officer Yadav allegedly threatened to arrest the jeweller's son if he did not pay him Rs 25 lakh.

During negotiations, the amount was reduced to Rs 20 lakh, as found by the CBI probe.

“Taking immediate cognisance of this incident and following the policy of zero tolerance towards corruption, the ED has initiated criminal action against Sandeep Singh Yadav under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),” the CBI said.

On Thursday, a joint team of the CBI and Enforcement Directorate raided Yadav's office to collect evidence. According to the CBI, the probe also revealed a criminal conspiracy hatched by Yadav with unknown others.

In addition to the PMLA case, action has also been initiated to place him under immediate suspension and to facilitate his repatriation to his parent department from the ED, which is the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the officials said.