Dhanda, 2 others in judicial remand till Jan 6

They had been arrested for accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh from a Delhi exporter for not implicating him in a document recovery case

A day after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested additional director general (ADG) of the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) Ludhiana, Chander Shekhar and two middlemen, including the ADG’s friend Rajesh Dhanda, the three were sent to judicial remand till January 6.

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They had been arrested for accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh from a Delhi exporter for not implicating him in a document recovery case.

It is not the first time that billionaire Dhanda, whose business empire is spread across the country as well as Dubai, has had a run-in with central government agencies. Now accused of serving as middle man for a top DRI official, Dhanda, in 2011, had called the DRI a den of corruption.

Dhanda, in a complaint he sent to all central government agencies in 2011 (the copy of which is with HT), had accused DRI officials of running a racket in connivance with businessmen and harassing exporters in the city.

In July 2012, the DRI had busted Rs 1,000-crore Hawala racket and arrested Dhanda. It was during this probe that he established contacts with DRI officials and had become an agent. Thereafter, his business took off. Sources said Dhanda had become the go-to person for settling financial issues especially for those who feared being implicated under the conservation of foreign exchange and prevention of smuggling activities (COFEPOSA) act.

Dhanda, a friend of the ADG, was also chairman of Bhagwan Jagannath Rath Yatra Mahotsav Committee, which organises the rath yatra in the city each year, towards which many businessmen donate huge money.