CBI traps two ED officers accepting Rs 5 lakh bribe in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) of the CBI office in Gandhinagar on Wednesday trapped two senior enforcement directorate (ED) officers allegedly accepting Rs 5 lakh as the first instalment of a Rs 75 lakh bribe, to not harass a Kapadwanj-based industrialist who is accused in a Rs 104 crore bank fraud case, officers said on Friday.
According to the CBI FIR, the accused officers were identified as deputy director Purnakam Singh and Bhuvnesh Kumar, assistant director, who served at the ED office near Helmet Circle in Memnagar.

The CBI FIR states that Paresh Patel, who runs a firm that processes castor oil and is also into the production of steel pipes in Kapadwanj town of Kheda district, on June 28 filed a complaint against the two officers.
“Patel has been facing an investigation by the ACB of the CBI’s Gandhinagar office for allegedly defrauding the Kapadwanj branch of the Bank of Baroda of Rs 104 crore. The ED Ahmedabad is simultaneously investigating the fraud under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA),” the FIR states.
Patel and his two sons were summoned to the ED office on April 22 and May 25 by Singh and Kumar, to record their statements, the FIR states.
“Patel alleged that and his son Hardik Patel went to the ED office on the instructions of Singh and Kumar on June 18. Patel alleged that he and his son were beaten up badly and abused by Singh and were threatened with the attachment of their properties,” the FIR states.
Patel alleged in his the FIR with the CBI that, “Singh then demanded Rs 75 lakh in the presence of Kumar to settle his and case and assured Patel and his sons that they would not be beaten up if the money was paid.”
On June 26, Kumar called Patel and demanded Rs 5 lakh as the first instalment of the Rs 75 lakh bribe through a Delhi-based angadia firm.
Acting on Patel’s complaint, CBI ACB DySP S S Bhadoriya verified the allegations and a trap was laid in which the two ED officers were caught accepting the Rs 5 lakh instalment.