NIA Officer Caught Demanding Rs 2.5 Cr Bribe To Spare Family In False Terror Case, Held By CBI With 2 Others

The CBI had received a complaint from Rocky Yadav, the owner of the Ramaiya Construction, who claimed that Deputy SP Ajay Pratap Singh had been extorting money from him.

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday arrested an NIA deputy superintendent of police posted in Patna and two middlemen for allegedly accepting a Rs 20 lakh bribe to extend favours to a person in an ongoing probe.

The CBI had received a complaint from Rocky Yadav, the owner of the Ramaiya Construction, who claimed that Deputy SP Ajay Pratap Singh had been extorting money from him. He also accused the NIA official of threatening him to falsely implicate his family in a case of illegal stocking of unlicensed assault weapons, news agency PTI reported.

Acting on the complaint, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) searched 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. Singh, who is the NIA on deputation from the Income Tax department, allegedly threatened Yadav and demanded a bribe of Rs 2.5 crore in return of allowing him to "escape consequences".

Yadav accepted the demand to save his family from false charges, an official told PTI.

"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." Thereafter, Yadav arranged Rs 25 lakh and directed his relative to deliver the money after contacting the mobile number provided by Singh. The money was collected by a man who arrived in Aurangabad, Bihar, a CBI spokesperson said.

The CBI alleged that the deputy SP was in contact with the accused middleman who was present in Aurangabad, Bihar, along with another middleman around, on the day of the incident. This corroborated the reported delivery of the bribe.

Yadav was summoned again by Singh on October 1 and was asked to pay Rs 70 lakh. He was instructed 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.

After getting the evidence, the CBI informed senior officers of the NIA about the entire episode involving Singh. The inputs were verified and a trap was laid by the CBI and the NIA. Singh and the two middlemen were caught red-handed accepting a bribe and arrested by the CBI.

"The CBI today apprehended the accused investigation officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy SP) 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, have been identified as Himanshu and Ritik Kumar Singh. Searches are underway at several places in Gaya, Patna, and Varanasi during which Rs 20 lakh bribe money was also seized.