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The CBI arrested an NIA deputy superintendent of police posted in Patna and two middlemen on Thursday for allegedly accepting a Rs 20 lakh bribe to extend favours to a person in an ongoing probe, officials said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had received a complaint from Rocky Yadav, the owner of the Ramaiya Construction, that Deputy SP Ajay Pratap Singh had been extorting money from him by threatening to falsely implicate his family in a case of illegally stocking unlicensed assault weapons.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at Yadav's premises on September 19 and asked him to appear for questioning on September 26 before Singh who was the investigation officer of the case, officials said.
It is alleged that Singh, who is in the NIA on deputation from the Income Tax department, threatened Yadav and demanded a bribe of Rs 2.5 crore to allow him to "escape consequences", they said.
Yadav accepted the demand to save his family from false charges, an official said.
"The accused deputy SP asked the complainant to pay an initial amount of Rs 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 Rs 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.
The CBI alleged that Singh was in contact with the accused middleman who along with another middleman was present in Aurangabad, Bihar, around 11:30 pm on the day of the incident, corroborating the reported delivery of the bribe.
Singh again summoned Yadav on October 1 where a demand of Rs 70 lakh was made with instructions to deliver half the amount the same day in Patna, the CBI alleged.
"The accused deputy SP again gave Yadav a handwritten note containing a mobile number. Later, the complainant 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 said.
The CBI informed senior officers of the NIA about the entire episode.
After verification of the inputs, the CBI laid a trap in coordination with the NIA.
"The CBI today apprehended the accused investigation officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ajay Pratap Singh, and his two agents while accepting an illegal gratification of Rs 20 lakh from the complainant," said a statement issued by the NIA.
The two alleged middlemen, Himanshu and Ritik Kumar Singh, were also arrested by the CBI.
Searches are being conducted at several places in Gaya, Patna and Varanasi during which Rs 20 Lakh bribe money has been seized, it said.