ED may book its Shimla officer named in bribery case

“We have called for case papers from the CBI, based on which a case of money laundering can be registered in the matter. It is a very serious issue and no one will be spared,” said a senior ED officer.

The agency has already attached all the officers involved in the episode to its Delhi headquarters. Additionally, sources said, the agency has recommended the repatriation of the assistant director as well as the deputy director of the Shimla branch to their parent cadre of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) under the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.

The names of two enforcement officers also came to light in the case. While one has been repatriated to his parent cadre of the Customs department, the other, who belongs to the ED cadre, has been transferred to Manipur.

On Sunday, the CBI searched the premises associated with Vishal Deep following the registration of two FIRs alleging bribery on the part of the officer and his subordinates.

According to one of the FIRs, registered at Chandigarh on December 22, one Bhupinder Kumar Sharma, the chairman of the Una-based Devbhoomi Group of Institutions, complained to the agency that he was being “tortured” by enforcement officers Neeraj and Sunil. He alleged that Vishal Deep had demanded a bribe of `55 lakh from him to avoid arrest in a three-year-old money laundering case.

During the raid on the premises of Vishal Deep, the agency recovered the cash from his brother Vikas Deep, an employee of a private bank, and arrested him.