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ED assistant director arrested by CBI for taking ₹20 lakh bribe from Mumbai jeweller
The CBI arrested an assistant director of the ED for taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh from a jeweller based in Mumbai.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested an assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh from a Mumbai-based jeweller. It was alleged that the ED director had threatened the jeweller to pay the bribe in exchange for not arresting his son.
The ED had conducted searches at the premises of the jeweller, Vipul Harish Thakkar, on August 3 and 4. According to the investigation carried out by the CBI, Assistant Director Sandeep Singh Yadav threatened to arrest Thakkar's son if he did not pay him ₹25 lakh.
The officials said the amount was reduced to ₹20 lakh after negotiations between the two parties. After paying the bribe, the jeweller approached CBI regarding the incident.
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"The verification of the complaint in the presence of independent witnesses, prima facie revealed criminal conspiracy hatched by Sandeep Singh, Assistant Director, Enforcement Directorate HQ, New Delhi with unknown others to obtain undue advantage... of ₹20 lakh by himself and through other person from the complainant Vipul Thakkar for not arresting his son Nihar Thakkar in the matter being investigated by the ED," the CBI FIR stated.
Yadav, who is an officer from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe in the national capital by the Mumbai unit of the agency, the officials said.
Read more: '5,000 cases, 40 convictions…focus on quality of evidence’: Supreme Court to ED
The ED official was arrested from the Lajpat Nagar Area in Delhi, a senior CBI official told PTI. The investigation agency moved forward with the arrest after a trap was laid to catch the accused red-handed with the help of the jeweller.
Notably, in Aug 2023, the CBI arrested an Assistant Director of ED along with six other officials for accepting bribes of ₹5 crore to save Delhi businessman Aman Dhall in the Delhi liquor scam case.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)
