CBI arrests DRI, Customs officials for graft

A deputy director of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and a Customs official were arrested on Thursday by the CBI for allegedly accepting bribe from a firm in Kolkata for duty waiver.

Those arrested were P Vijayakumar, currently posted in Mumbai, and Nand Kumar Rai, a Customs Superintendent posted in Kolkata, along with promoter of the firm Universal Agency Rajesh Sarda.

While Vijayakumar was arrested from Mumbai, the other two were apprehended from Kolkata. On Wednesday, the agency had carried out searches at 15 locations including the residence of a former member Central Board of Excise and Customs in connection with the alleged bribe case, said the CBI.

The arrests were made after the agency recovered Rs 35 lakh in cash from Rai's residence along with other incriminating documents.

The trio were presented before courts and are being brought here for further questioning, said CBI. "It was alleged that some officers of the Customs Department and DRI posted at Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi and others conspired with private persons to obtain permission from the competent authority for allowing a firm to transport consignments from Kolkata Port by railway rake to Nepal through Jogbani in Bihar, in exchange of illegal gratification," said a CBI spokesperson.

On November 14, 2012, the accused customs official had allegedly demanded Rs 20 lakh bribe from the company for duty waiver on transportation of imported goods, including fertilisers and billet from Kolkata port to Nepal via Jogbani in Bihar.

The company had allegedly paid Rs 15 lakh through Rai, which was then distributed to other Customs and DRI officials.

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