CBI sleuths go to arrest official, beaten up by kin

GREATER NOIDA: A CBI team that had gone to Greater Noida’s Sunpura village on Saturday morning to arrest one of its own men on bribery charges, was allegedly taken hostage and thrashed with sticks and iron rods by his family members.

Four officials sustained injuries in the attack. An FIR has been registered and one has been arrested, police said.

The five-member team, led by inspector GS Meena reached the farm house of ASI Sunil Dutt — attached to the CBI Academy in Ghaziabad — around 7am to serve him a notice and take him into custody in connection with a bribery case in the Rs 126 crore YEIDA scam.

While four members — Meena, sub inspector Kuldeep Singh, constables Lokesh Rani and Dilawar Singh — went inside, one stood guard outside. As soon as they entered the house, they spotted ASI Dutt’s brother Yudhvir sitting on the premises and informed him that they had come to hand over the notice to the accused officer under Section 41 of the CrPC (arrest of a person without a warrant).

At this, Yudhvir raised an alarm and called up other family members, including his younger brothers, Sukhvir and Dharmendra, their servant Narendra and a person named Dhyanvir. All of them came out, locked the main gate, and snatched the mobile phones and the identity cards of the CBI officials before beating them up, according to CBI.

Hearing cries inside, the lone CBI constable, Gajraj Singh, who was waiting outside the farm house immediately contacted his seniors in Delhi who, in turn, informed the Gautam Budh Nagar police which went to the spot and rescued the four men. Though Yudhvir was arrested, Dutt and others managed to give cops the slip.

“The team was attacked by the members of his extended family and others in order to help accused Dutt escape from the place. It is also alleged that the mobile phones, diary, and identity cards of some of the team members were burnt,” CBI said in a statement.

Police said an FIR has been registered against 10 people, including four unnamed accused, based on the complaint from CBI. According to the FIR, not only the four CBI officials were beaten up, but five mobile phones were snatched from the officers. The notice issued to ASI Dutt was also taken away. The mobiles, identity cards and the documents were subsequently set on fire by Sukhvir.

Anita Chauhan, the SHO of Ecotech III police station, told TOI she rushed to the spot with a team as soon as she got a call from the SSP. “We had no prior information about the visit by the CBI officials,” she said.

The CBI officials were rescued, rushed to a private hospital and discharged after preliminary treatment.