Bribery charges: CBI arrests customs official in dramatic chase in Navi Mumbai
Kumar was apprehended after he accepted a bribe of Rs 10.2 lakh. Kumar also fixed a rate card for cleaning the complainant's consignment in the future, said the CBI. CBI officials produced Kumar before the court, and he has been remanded into CBI custody until August 6. CBI sources said that Kumar had blocked the complainant's consignment with the help of the Rummaging and Intelligence (R&I) wing of Customs by sending a pseudonymous email.
Kumar promised to release the complainant's consignment in exchange for a bribe, stating that the majority of the money would go to his seniors.
The CBI is investigating the roles of R&I wing officials and Kumar's superiors in the case. On Saturday, Kumar called the complainant outside his residential colony in Kharghar and asked him to sit in his car. After collecting the bribe, Kumar instructed the complainant to leave and drove his car into the colony.
The CBI team followed him, leading Kumar to suspect that something was amiss. He continuously moved his vehicle within the society's premises and, during the pursuit, threw the money bag.
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The CBI officers then arrested him as he attempted to leave the society, causing commotion and disturbing other residents. The CBI subsequently recovered the money. The CBI stated that Kumar and other unidentified public servants were demanding bribes at the rate of Rs 10 per kilogram of imported cargo, both for himself and on behalf of senior officers, to ensure the smooth clearance of consignments.
The complainant refused to pay the bribe despite Kumar's persistent attempts and deliberate withholding of his consignments to exert pressure.
Consequently, it prompted the complainant to approach the CBI. The CBI recorded conversations between Kumar and the complainant on multiple occasions between July 25 and August 1. In these conversations, Kumar pressured the complainant to pay Rs 6 lakh which was a bribe for the coachmen cleared on an earlier occasion, claiming that only Rs 20,000 was his share, with the remaining amount intended for senior officers for previously cleared consignments. Kumar also demanded a Rs 10 lakh bribe for releasing the withheld consignment and set a future rate of Rs 10 per kilogram.
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