New Delhi: In a late-night raid at the Punjab Vigilance office in Mohali followed by a dramatic chase, the CBI arrested two middlemen and another person in a Rs 13-lakh bribery case involving senior officers of the department, officials said.
The CBI took the action after registering an FIR on a complaint of a Punjab State Tax Officer, who had accused Vikas Goyal and his son Raghav Goyal of demanding illegal gratification of Rs 20 Lakh for securing the closure of a complaint against him in the office of DG (Vigilance), Punjab.
"Further, it was alleged that both the accused were acting as intermediaries for senior Vigilance officials including the Reader to DGP Vigilance, Punjab and were using their influence to assure the complainant that his matter could be settled. O. P. Rana, the reader to DG Vigilance assured him for closure of the complaint once illegal gratification is paid," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
Prima facie, the investigation reveals active involvement of Rana in the conspiracy, she said.
According to the statement, during negotiations, the accused reduced the demand from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 13 lakh along with one Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 mobile phone for Rana.
After getting confirmation about the bribe exchange, a CBI team raided a place in Chandigarh, where an associate of the accused, Ankit Wadhwa, was arrested while accepting a bribe of Rs 13 lakh and a mobile phone on their behalf, the spokesperson said.
"The bribe amount and mobile phone were recovered during the trap proceedings," the statement read.
As it happened, Raghav Goyal, Vikas Goyal, and Rana ran away after being alerted by their gunmen stationed there to keep a watch.
The CBI team began a hot pursuit and after a dramatic chase, nabbed Raghav, Vikas and apprehended two gunmen near Ambala at the Punjab-Haryana border, the spokesperson said.
"Rana, reader to DGP Vigilance, is still absconding and efforts are being made to arrest him," she said.
Searches at the residential premises of Goyals at Malout and Rana at Chandigarh, led to recovery of Rs 9 lakh in cash and incriminating documents, the spokesperson said.
The CBI investigation exposed an exchange of "sensitive information" relating to pending vigilance matters between Rana and Goyals.
"The wider conspiracy, including possible illegal gratification nexus and the role of other persons, is under investigation. The accused private persons were given police gunmen officially. The role and attachment of Punjab Police gunmen carrying AK-47 rifles with the private accused persons is also being examined," the spokesperson said.
The Chennithala camp says he is the senior most leader who has always stood by the party and the Nehru-Gandhi family like a rock, even during difficult times.
Citing his experience, they point out that many leaders who worked with or under him during his tenure as national president of the NSU(I) and Youth Congress have gone on to become chief ministers of other states or union ministers.
They argue that denying the senior leader an opportunity this time would be an injustice to him.
His camp also claims that, in keeping with party discipline, his supporters have not engaged in poster wars or street demonstrations, unlike the supporters of Satheesan or Venugopal.
Meanwhile, the BJP has criticised the Congress for failing to decide on the chief minister even after securing the support of 63 MLAs and three independents -- a total of 66 members on its own -- and alleged that the delay was due to the Congress high command being afraid of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and the Muslim League.
In a Facebook post, BJP former state president K Surendran said: "Even after having the support of 63 MLAs and three independents -- a total of 66 members on their own -- whom is the Congress high command afraid of when it comes to announcing the Chief Minister? The answer is very simple-- Jamaat-e-Islami and the Muslim League. Anyone with basic common sense can understand that they are the ones creating all this uproar."
He further alleged that whoever is eventually declared chief minister would, after landing at Karipur airport, make his first visit to the residence of the Panakkad Thangal, the supreme leader of the Muslim League.
Apparently referring to members of the Hindu and Christian communities who voted for the UDF, he said that "the secular majority and the stepmotherly treated minority that voted for them will only have to endure this for the next five years as well."