NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested Lt Col Deepak Kumar Sharma and a private individual, Vinod Kumar, in connection with a bribery case.
The case was registered on December 19 based on reliable source information against Lt Col Sharma, who is posted as Deputy Planning Officer (International Cooperation and Exports) in the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, and others, including his wife Col Kajal Bali, Commanding Officer of 16 Infantry Division Ordnance Unit, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, and a Dubai-based company.
The CBI alleged that Lt Col Sharma was habitually involved in corrupt practices and entered into a criminal conspiracy with representatives of private defence manufacturing and export companies, accepting bribes in exchange for extending undue favours.
According to the agency, Rajiv Yadav and Ravjit Singh, who allegedly manage the India operations of the accused company from Bengaluru, were in regular contact with Lt Col Sharma and conspired with him to secure favours from various government departments through illegal means. Vinod Kumar allegedly delivered a bribe of ₹3 lakh to Lt Col Sharma on December 18 on behalf of the company.
Searches were conducted at multiple locations, including Sri Ganganagar, Bengaluru, Jammu and Delhi. During searches at Lt Col Sharma’s residence in Delhi, the CBI recovered the bribe amount of ₹3 lakh along with additional cash of ₹2.23 lakh. Another ₹10 lakh in cash was seized from the accused’s house in Sri Ganganagar, besides other incriminating material. Searches at his office premises in New Delhi are continuing.
Both accused were produced before the court and have been remanded to police custody till December 23. Further investigation is underway.
