New Delhi, Jul 18 : The CBI has arrested an officer of the Central Bureau of Narcotics for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs one crore from a farmer to prevent him from being implicated in a criminal case, officials on Friday said.
The CBI has arrested the officer Mahender Singh stationed in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch with an accomplice Jagdish Menariya for taking Rs three lakh of the total bribe, they said.
The officer had purportedly seized 400 kilograms of opium husk from the fields of a farmer.
Menariya had later contacted the farmer, informing him about the seizure.
“Singh through Jagdish Menariya demanded a bribe amount of Rs one crore for not implicating him as well as his family members in a case of narcotics and also threatened that if he did not give the bribe amount, then he would send them to jail by implicating them in a criminal case,” the CBI FIR alleged.
Facing coercion, the farmer sought recourse through the CBI where he filed a complaint alleging that he had already paid around Rs 44 lakh of the total demand since March through instalments.
He alleged that Menariya had again approached him and sought Rs nine lakh more on Singh’s behalf threatening to book him in another case.
The agency, following a discreet verification process, found prima facie material substantiating the bribery allegations.
The CBI set a trap where an alleged bribe exchange had to take place and arrested Singh and Menariya during the operation with the instalment of Rs three lakh paid to them, the officials said. (PTI)
