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CBI raids on CBEC chairman, customs officials

Onkar Singh in New Delhi and Our Correspondent in Bombay

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday raided the office and residential premises of chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) B P Verma in connection with a charge of alleged illegal gratification received by him, and placed him on "compusory wait".

Verma "has been put on compulsory wait in the Department of Revenue and Sukumar Shankar, a member of the Board, has been appointed as its chairman," an official spokesperson said.

The Anti-Corruption Branch of CBI carried out raids in 13 other places connected with him, agency sources said.

The premises of Sandeep Srivastava, officer on special duty (OSD) to the chairman, and the school run by Verma's wife were also raided, the sources said.

The CBI had got a complaint that Verma had been helping a Madras-based company through a middle man and seeking undue favours from his juniors to get goods cleared on their arrival in Delhi. It was alleged that Verma had received a "huge bribe" from representatives of a company through his son in a five-star hotel in Delhi.

"On March 23 Vijay Pratap came to Delhi and checked into hotel Meridien in Room number 826. Son of Verma, Siddarth came to meet Pratap and picked up illegal gratification," S M Khan, CBI spokesperson, told newsmen.

According to sources the sum picked up by the son of Verma was around Rs20 million.

" On further investigations we found that Verma had been influencing juniors who were clearing rags as goods," said Khan.

Reportedly, B P Verma's son, his female associate Bhavna Mishra Pandey and two commissioners in the department of Central Excise and Customs in Bombay are also being investigated in this matter. About a dozen more officers are being raided in Delhi.

This is the first time when an officer of this rank has been raided by CBI in recent times.Verma was not available for comments when contacted on phone. The raids are continuing.

The CBI carried out massive countrywide raids on the office and residential premises of senior customs officials in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and some other places for their alleged connivance with smugglers.

CBI sources said the raids are still continuing, though no arrests have been made so far. Raids were being carried out at 50 places in Delhi, 6 in Bombay, 3 in Haryana and one each in Calcutta and Kerala, the sources said.

The details of seizures were not immediately known. "As the raids are still continuing, it is difficult to quantify the seizures,'' the sources said.

The raids came in the wake of the disclosures made by an Uzbek woman, Olga Kazireva, who was arrested in new Delhi in August last year. The matter was subsequently referred to the CBI for investigations.

Olga was involved in the smuggling of Chinese silk. On being caught, she issued several statements and on the basis of the investigations subsequently conducted, numerous customs' officials were suspended. The information given in her statements is said to be part of the reason for the raids.

Additional inputs: Agencies

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