₹12-lakh graft: Insurance company surveyer, manager arrested

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths arrested two staffers of The New India Assurance Company, a nationalised general insurance firm, for allegedly seeking a ₹12-lakh bribe

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths arrested two staffers of The New India Assurance Company, a nationalised general insurance firm, for allegedly seeking a ₹12-lakh bribe on Wednesday.

The arrested accused are insurance surveyer NS Sidhu and regional manager (Chandigarh) JK Mittal. The complainant, told CBI sleuths that Sidhu, an insurance surveyer, had demanded ₹12-lakh to release the insurance claim for his Parwanoo factory – which burned down in 2010 –without delay. (REUTERS)

The arrested accused are insurance surveyer NS Sidhu and regional manager (Chandigarh) JK Mittal. The complainant, told CBI sleuths that Sidhu, an insurance surveyer, had demanded ₹12-lakh to release the insurance claim for his Parwanoo factory – which burned down in 2010 –without delay.

Sidhu allegedly told the complainant that if he paid the money sought, his aide, the regional manager of the Chandigarh branch of the insurance company, will not file an appeal in the higher court. Following the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and caught the surveyer red-handed while he was accepting ₹5 lakh, the first instalment of the graft, on behalf of Mittal.

On Wednesday, CBI officials raided the properties of the accused in Shimla and Panchkula, and seized documents and locker keys.

The accused, who were arrested by the Shimla team of the CBI, will be produced in the court of a CBI special judge, on Thursday.