Excise commissioner held in bribery case

The CBI on Friday arrested influential central excise commissioner AK Srivastava for allegedly seeking bribe of Rs 60 lakh from two mobile phone importers.

The CBI on Friday arrested influential central excise commissioner AK Srivastava for allegedly seeking bribe of Rs 60 lakh from two mobile phone importers.

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The probe agency had registered a case against Srivastava on January 2 and also searched his premises.

According to sources, the CBI had written to the union finance ministry to remove him from his post due to adverse reports against him. He was, however, not removed.

The Central Vigilance Commission had also sought his transfer to a less sensitive post on similar grounds but no action was taken. Srivastava, a 1984 batch Indian Revenue Service officer, was posted as the commissioner of central excise zone-1 in Delhi.

The probe agency had arrested two of Srivastava’s accomplices — Lallan Ojha, a custom official, and Hemant Gandhi after the registration of the case.

Srivastava had managed to get himself out of the situation by undergoing angioplasty at a private hospital.

In the meantime, he applied for anticipatory bail. The bail was denied by the court on Friday with an observation that this was not the stage for granting anticipatory bail to Srivastava, who seemed to be the mastermind of the entire conspiracy with other accused.

He will be produced before the court on Saturday.

According to sources, Srivastava is considered a powerful official, who was close to high-profile officials and politicians.