CBI made 3 attempts at trap laid to arrest Delhi Police EoW official while taking bribe

It took three attempts on as many days by the CBI to nab the sub inspector attached to the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing who demanded Rs 30 lakh as bribe to relax a case against the complainant, officials said Friday.

The perseverance of the CBI team finally paid on Thursday when Sanjeev Kumar, a sub-inspector with the EOW, was arrested by the agency's team while allegedly receiving Rs four lakh as part payment of the total Rs 30 lakh bribe demanded by him, they said.

"The sub inspector demanded a bribe to settle the complaint as well as in lieu of the favour extended in a previous case in which the complainant was an accused," CBI Spokesperson RK Gaur said Friday.

Kumar, posted at Mandir Marg police station, had allegedly demanded Rs 10 lakh from the complainant in 2018 to manage a case against him which was being probed by the the officer, they said.

When the complainant had refused to pay the amount, the officer filed a charge sheet against him for which proceedings are going on in the court to quash the FIR, they said.

In the meantime, the sub-inspector called the complainant's estranged brother with whom he and his father had a dispute for the past 22 years, they said.

The brother gave a fresh complaint against the complainant which was also being probed by Kumar, the accused sub-inspector, they said.

Kumar then demanded Rs 30 lakh from the complainant to probe his brother's allegations and determine the findings in his favour, they said, adding that the amount included Rs 10 lakh demanded in previous case.

The anti-corruption branch of the CBI swung into action after receiving the complaint and made an elaborate plan to verify the allegations and trap the officer red-handed while receiving the bribe, they said.

The CBI made the first attempt on March 17 when the complainant was asked to call him. It took several tries as the officer kept disconnecting and calling back using WhatsApp seemingly to evade any kind of call recording, they said.

The officer fixed a meeting for the next evening but the demand of bribe could not be verified in the call, they said.

The next day Kumar came with a mask on his face so the independent witness planted to overhear the conversation between the officer and the complainant failed to identify him and also could not overhear the conversation, but the recorder picked the conversation in which the sub-inspector could be heard making the demand for the bribe, they said.

Finally on March 19, the complainant reached with the bribe amount as per the plan when the agency nabbed the police officer while receiving a portion of Rs 30 lakh bribe, they said.