New Delhi: Vishal Deep caught wind of an impending raid, and before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could catch him red-handed with a hefty amount he allegedly took as bribe from an individual under investigation, he hastily loaded stacks of cash into a car and fled. This wasn’t a petty thief evading the authorities but an officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the very agency tasked with investigating financial crimes.
Vishal—an assistant director-level officer earlier posted at the Shimla office of the ED—remains at large, ThePrint has learnt.
As part of a probe against an individual under investigation by the Shimla office of ED, the Chandigarh anti-corruption branch of CBI laid a trap Sunday to catch Vishal red-handed.
While he evaded arrest, the CBI recovered Rs 54 lakh from the spot where Vishal was supposed to meet the complainant. According to CBI sources, the officer now on the run had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 55 lakh from the complainant. An additional sum of Rs 56.5 lakh was recovered in subsequent searches at premises linked to him in Shimla Monday and Tuesday, agency sources told ThePrint.
On Wednesday, the CBI arrested Vishal’s brother, a senior manager at the Punjab National Bank, who was later produced before a court. Searches continued Thursday too.
Sources in the ED confirmed to ThePrint that both the accused and his supervising officer—the deputy director—have been transferred to the agency’s headquarters in Delhi.
“ED was informed on 24 December of the action taken by the CBI against one assistant director-level officer posted in Shimla. Immediately after receiving the information and following the policy of zero tolerance towards corruption, the said officer as well as his supervisory officer were transferred the same day and attached to the ED headquarters in Delhi,” a source in the ED told ThePrint.
“On receiving further information from the CBI, the process of repatriation and also disciplinary action may be initiated against the officer concerned,” the source added.
This development comes months after the CBI reportedly caught another assistant director-rank ED officer for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a Mumbai-based businessman by threatening to arrest his son. The officer, identified as Sandeep Singh Yadav, was booked by the ED under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after the CBI and ED conducted a “joint raid” at his office in Delhi.
Action against the ED officer was initiated after the CBI Chandigarh anti-corruption branch registered an FIR Sunday under Section 7A (taking undue advantage to influence public servants by corrupt or illegal means or by exercise of personal influence) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Sources in the ED confirmed that Vishal, an officer from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), was on deputation to the ED and had been posted at the Shimla sub-zonal office since last November. He was made the investigating officer of a particular case a couple of months ago.
The accused in this case complained to CBI, accusing Vishal of trying to extort him.
The said case against the complainant was filed three years ago on the basis of a CBI probe into allegations of “misutilisation” of funds in central and state government-run schemes in Himachal Pradesh.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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