Former customs officer convicted in graft case

The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday convicted former customs officer in a bribery case registered in 2002. The officer had absconded

The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday convicted former customs officer in a bribery case registered in 2002. The officer had absconded and was lived in Uttar Pradesh under a false identity. He was caught in March last year.

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CBI had registered the case against accused Abhinav Singh, then appraising officer of the customs, and Samdarshi Jaiswal along with few companies for cheating, conspiracy and corruption.

Singh was found guilty and was sentenced to imprisonment for the period he has already spent in jail since his arrest. While the prime accused Jaiswal died during the trial.

As per the CBI case, 18 duty entitlement pass book (DEPB) scrips from the office of joint director general of foreign trade (DGFT) in the name of four companies, forged shipping bills and forged bank realisation certificate were recovered. The scrips were sold by Jaiswal to various parties. Out of 18, 17 were dishonestly utilised for import of goods, which caused a loss of around ₹4 crores to the Government of India.

As a part of the conspiracy, Singh was accused of abusing his position as appraising customs officer. He allegedly confirmed the genuineness of the past exports against few of the DEPB scrips and also corresponding documents. This, the CBI claimed, was done by Singh after accepting a bribe from Jaiswal. The agency alleged that Singh had accepted the car from the accused as a bribe.

The CBI prosecutor Jitendra Kumar pointed out that the accused played a key role. However, he contended that the main accused died pending the trial. Singh was arrested in 2002 when CBI first registered the case but later absconded.

It was revealed that after his escape, he shifted to Uttar Pradesh and worked as a professor in a medical college. He was arrested in March last year.