The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a Mumbai-based jeweller. According to officials, the Enforcement Directorate had conducted searches at the premises of the jeweller, Vipul Harish Thakkar, on August 3 and 4. Assistant Director Sandeep Singh Yadav allegedly threatened to arrest Thakkar's son if he did not pay him Rs 25 lakh, according to the CBI.
During negotiations, the amount was reduced to Rs 20 lakh, the officials said. Later, Thakkar approached the CBI. "The verification of the complaint in the presence of independent witnesses, prima facie revealed criminal conspiracy hatched by Sandeep Singh, Assistant Director, Enforcement Directorate HQ, New Delhi with unknown others to obtain undue advantage of Rs 20 lakh by himself and through another person from the complainant Vipul Thakkar for not arresting his son Nihar Thakkar in the matter being investigated by the ED," the CBI FIR stated.
Yadav, who is an officer from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe in the national capital by the Mumbai unit of the agency, the officials said.
Centre appoints 5 SPs in CBI
Earlier on Thursday, the central government appointed five Superintendents of Police in the Central Bureau of Investigation. All five officers from the Indian Revenue Service have been appointed for a tenure of four years, a Personnel Ministry order said. Those inducted include Srishti Chaudhary, Savyasachi Kumar and Sonawane Pankaj Rajaram (Income Tax officers) and Navin Kumar Soni and Rathod Krunal Chimanbhai (Customs and Indirect Tax officers), according to the order.
(With inputs from PTI)
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