The accused narrowly evaded arrest and is at large

metro india news  I shimla

In what can be termed as a rarest or rare cases, an officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the very agency tasked with investigating financial crimes is on the run for taking Rs 55 lakh bribe. CBI laid trap for assistant director-level officer with ED after an individual under investigation accused him of demanding bribe of Rs 55 lakh. Vishal Deep narrowly evaded arrest Sunday.

Vishal Deep caught wind of an impending raid, and before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could catch him red-handed with a hefty amount he allegedly took as bribe from an individual under investigation, he hastily loaded stacks of cash into a car and fled.

This wasn’t a petty thief evading the authorities but an officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the very agency tasked with investigating financial crimes.

Vishal—an assistant director-level officer earlier posted at the Shimla office of the ED—remains at large. As part of a probe against an individual under investigation by the Shimla office of ED, the Chandigarh anti-corruption branch of CBI laid a trap Sunday to catch Vishal red-handed. 

While he evaded arrest, the CBI recovered Rs 54 lakh from the spot where Vishal was supposed to meet the complainant. According to CBI sources, the officer now on the run had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 55 lakh from the complainant.

An additional sum of Rs 56.5 lakh was recovered in subsequent searches at his cabin in the ED office and residence in Shimla on Monday.

On Wednesday, the CBI arrested Vishal’s brother, a senior manager at the Punjab National Bank, who was later produced before a court. Searches continued Thursday too.

“ED was informed on 24 December of the action taken by the CBI against one assistant director-level officer posted in Shimla. Immediately after receiving the information and following the policy of zero tolerance towards corruption, the said officer as well as his supervisory officer were transferred the same day and attached to the ED headquarters in Delhi.”

“On receiving further information from the CBI, the process of repatriation and also disciplinary action may be initiated against the officer concerned,” the source added.

This development comes months after the CBI reportedly caught another assistant director-rank ED officer for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a Mumbai-based businessman by threatening to arrest his son. The officer, identified as Sandeep Singh Yadav, was booked by the ED under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after the CBI and ED conducted a “joint raid” at his office in Delhi.

Action against the ED officer was initiated after the CBI Chandigarh anti-corruption branch registered an FIR Sunday under Section 7A (taking undue advantage to influence public servants by corrupt or illegal means or by exercise of personal influence) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. 

Sources in the ED confirmed that Vishal, an officer from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), was on deputation to the ED and had been posted at the Shimla sub-zonal office since last November. He was made the investigating officer of a particular case a couple of months ago. The accused in this case complained to CBI, accusing Vishal of trying to extort him.

The said case against the complainant was filed three years ago on the basis of a CBI probe into allegations of “misutilisation” of funds in central and state government-run schemes in Himachal Pradesh.