CBI arrests 3 officials of Central Excise for taking bribe

CBI has arrested three officials of Central Excise for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 3 lakh to minimise duty on a company under scrutiny.

CBI sources said Superintendents Anil Kumar, Ajay Singh, Inspector Ravinder Dahiya of Central Excise, Audit Department were arrested from Murthal in Sonepat (Haryana).

Agency spokesperson R K Gaur said that case was registered on a complaint alleging that the said officials of Central Excise visited the office premises of the complainant's company to conduct audit on February 13, 2017.

"During audit, they allegedly raised many objections like double billing, evasion of Excise Duty etc. and they informed the complainant that penalty of Rs 25-30 lakh would be imposed on the company," Gaur said.

The accused allegedly told the complainant to pay bribe of Rs 10 lakh in order to minimise the duty and penalty, he said.

"On the request of the complainant, the alleged bribe amount was reduced to Rs nine lakh, and the accused also agreed to accept Rs 3 lakh as first instalment," he said.

The agency on getting the information about the possible exchange of bribe money, laid a trap and caught them while allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 3 lakh from the complainant, he said.

"Searches were conducted at the official and residential premises of the accused, including Gurgaon and Delhi. Cash of Rs 9.2 lakh (approx); around one kg gold and documents related to property were recovered from the premises of one Superintendent and FDRs; details of certain bank accounts; lockers from the premises of other accused," he said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)