CBI arrests principal secretary of Delhi govt, his aide in bribery case

A senior bureaucrat in the Delhi government was on Tuesday arrested by the CBI in a bribery case.

A senior IAS officer working for the Delhi government and his personal assistant were detained on Tuesday night by the CBI for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2.2 lakh from a manpower supplier, a spokesperson of the agency said.

Sanjay Pratap Singh, principal secretary of the department of welfare of scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and minorities, allegedly demanded Rs 2.2 lakh from a person whose firm provided security guards and other staff to the department. (AFP File Photo)

The accused Sanjay Pratap Singh, an IAS officer of the 1984 batch, is serving as the principal secretary in the department for welfare of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities.

The CBI move came just a few days after the Delhi assembly passed the Janlokpal Bill, described by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal as the “strongest” anti-graft legislation in the country.

One of the major poll planks of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Kejriwal was a promise to wipe out corruption at all levels of the government.

In October, the CBI had registered a bribery case against Kejriwal’s former food and supplies minister leading to his ouster from the ministry.

“The bribe was given to the principal secretary’s PA at his office. The PA went downstairs to deliver the bribe to the officer who was waiting in his vehicle when CBI sleuths nabbed them both in the act,” the spokesperson added.

The agency had put the accused officer and his personal assistant under surveillance for some time after receiving a complaint.

Another source said the complainant is an AAP volunteer who had first informed the government about the officer. He was later asked to seek the CBI’s help.

The complainant’s firm was providing manpower in the form of security guards and peons to the department.

“The detained persons are being questioned to verify allegations related to their activities. They are likely to be placed under custody of the CBI,” the source added. The agency will find out if there were more accomplices in the alleged bribery network, said the source.

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