NIA deputy SP arrested for graft faces strict action
The officer, Ajay Pratap Singh, posted in the NIA’s Patna branch on deputation from the Income Tax department, is likely to be suspended and repatriated to his parent cadre
The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a deputy superintendent of police (DySP) of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who demanded a bribe of ₹2.5 crore from an individual raided last month over suspicion of his association with Maoists , officials familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The officer, Ajay Pratap Singh, posted in the NIA’s Patna branch on deputation from the Income Tax department, is likely to be suspended and repatriated to his parent cadre, the officials, who asked not to be named, added.
As part of a crackdown on Maoists and their sympathizers across the country, NIA had carried out raids at five locations in Bihar’s Magadh region on September 19. The raids, led by Singh, covered premises of three suspects in the Maoists conspiracy case.
The raiding teams found evidence that those raided were providing funds and logistical support to leaders of CPI (Maoist) to revive their Naxal activities in the Magadh region. Ten weapons of different bores, ₹4.03 crore in cash, incriminating documents, and some digital devices were also found during the raids.
One of the people whose premises were raided, Rocky Yadav, was summoned to the NIA office in Patna for questioning.
Singh allegedly threatened Yadav and demanded a bribe of ₹2.5 crore to allow him to “escape consequences”, according to a CBI official.
Yadav accepted the demand, but separately complained to CBI that Singh was extorting money from him by threatening to falsely implicate his (Yadav’s) family in a case of illegally stocking unlicensed assault weapons.
“The accused deputy SP asked the complainant to pay an initial amount of ₹25 lakh on September 26 (the day of interrogation) and provided him with a handwritten note containing a middleman’s mobile number. Subsequently, it was alleged that the complainant arranged ₹25 lakh and directed his relative to deliver the money after contacting the mobile number. The money was delivered to the recipient, who arrived in Aurangabad, Bihar,” a CBI spokesperson said on Thursday.
Singh, the spokesperson added, was in contact with a middleman who along with another middleman was present in Aurangabad, Bihar, around 11:30 pm on that day, corroborating the reported delivery of the bribe.
Singh again summoned Yadav on October 1 where a demand of ₹70 lakh was made with instructions to deliver half the amount the same day in Patna, CBI said.
“Singh again gave Yadav a handwritten note containing a mobile number. Yadav contacted the given phone number and sought some time to arrange the money and assured that the money would be delivered on October 3 in Gaya,” the CBI spokesperson added.
The anti-corruption agency informed senior officers of NIA about the entire episode after which a trap was laid to nab Singh red-handed. On Thursday, CBI caught Singh while accepting ₹20 lakh from Yadav.
The two middlemen, Himanshu and Ritik Kumar Singh, were also arrested by CBI.