CBI nabs 2 PESO officials, Raj bizman, an agent in Rs 10 lakh graft case

Nagpur:  The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has nabbed four persons, including two top officials of Petroleum & Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO), director of a Rajasthan-based company, and a local agent, in a bribery case of Rs 10 lakh, an official said here on Thursday.

The accused have been identified as Vivek Kumar and Ashok K. Dalela, PESO Deputy Chief Controllers of Explosives; Devisingh Kachhawaha, Director of Super Shivshakti Chemicals Pvt. Ltd., Chittorgarh, Rajasthan; Priyadarshan Dinkar Deshpandey, a tout.

According to a complaint lodged with the CBI, Deshpandey and the two PESO officials allegedly hatched a plot to carry out some work of Kachhawaha in return of illegal gratification amounting to Rs 10 lakh.

The CBI set up a trap and caught Kachhawaha and Deshpandey red-handed during exchange of the bribe amount. After the involvement of Kumar and Dalela emerged, they were also arrested.

Raids at the Nagpur home of middleman Deshpandey led to the recovery of Rs 1.19 crore cash, gold biscuits, silver metal and other incriminating materials.

Searches at Kumar’s premises led to the recovery of Rs 88 lakh cash, while certain other documents were found at the home of Dalela.

The four accused persons were produced before a special CBI court here, which remanded them to police custody till Saturday, an official official.