Chandigarh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three persons in connection with a Rs 20 lakh bribery case linked to officials posted in the Punjab Vigilance Bureau.
Those arrested include two alleged middlemen and one associate. The CBI has formally announced the operation and said the case pertains to an alleged illegal demand for bribe to settle a pending vigilance complaint.
State tax officer approached CBI
According to a CBI spokesperson, the agency received a complaint from a Punjab state tax officer alleging that Vikas alias Vicky Goyal and his son Raghav Goyal demanded Rs 20 lakh to close a complaint pending against him in the office of the Director General of Vigilance, Punjab.
The agency alleged that both were acting as intermediaries for senior vigilance officials, including O.P. Rana, the reader to the chief director of vigilance.
Bribe amount later reduced to Rs 13 lakh
Investigators said the accused assured the complainant that the matter against him would be settled after payment of the bribe.
The accused later allegedly reduced the demand from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 13 lakh. In addition to the cash payment, a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 mobile phone was also allegedly meant to be handed over to vigilance reader O.P. Rana.
CBI trap leads to arrests
During a trap operation conducted in Chandigarh on May 11, the CBI caught Ankit Wadhwa, an associate of the Goyal family, allegedly while accepting Rs 13 lakh in cash and the mobile phone from the complainant.
The CBI team recovered both the cash and the mobile phone from the spot.
Later, the agency intercepted and detained Raghav Goyal, Vikas alias Vicky Goyal and two gunmen near Ambala on the Punjab-Haryana border.
However, vigilance reader O.P. Rana is currently absconding and efforts are underway to trace him.
