New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Wednesday arrested an officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a bribery case in Delhi, ThePrint has learnt. The assistant director-level officer, identified as Sandeep Singh Yadav, was allegedly caught red-handed accepting a Rs 20 lakh bribe from a Mumbai-based businessman he was threatening to implicate in a false case.
Following his arrest by CBI, the ED too filed a money laundering case against Sandeep Singh and raided his residence in the national capital. Later, the agency along with CBI also carried out a joint search at his office in Delhi.
CBI sources said Yadav fell for a trap laid by the agency’s Anti-Corruption Branch in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market. “There was a raid that was carried out by the ED in Mumbai and the accused was trying to extract bribes out of the businessperson in question on the threat of implicating him. Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered, leading to the setting up of a trap and arrest,” a CBI officer said.
Yadav, who previously worked with the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), was appointed assistant director in the ED in May last year.
ThePrint reached the ED for comment via phone calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Yadav’s arrest comes eight months after the arrest of another ED officer posted in the agency’s Madurai sub-zonal office. The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) had booked ED officer Ankit Tiwari in December last year after he allegedly received a tranche of Rs 20 lakh out of a total bribe amount of Rs 51 lakh.
Based on the Tamil Nadu DVAC’s case, the ED filed a complaint against its own officer later that month.
A month before that, Rajasthan’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had in November 2023 arrested ED officer Naval Kishore Meena after allegedly catching red-handed a middleman working on his behalf.
Meena, who was probing a complaint against a businessman in a chit fund case in Manipur, had allegedly told the latter to pay up to avoid arrest or seizure of his properties, ThePrint had reported.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: 75% of PMLA cases registered since 2014, steep rise after 2019 amendment