Karnataka: CBI court sentences former ED officer to 3 years' imprisonment in bribery case

Bengaluru, July 25 (IANS) A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court has sentenced former Directorate of Enforcement (ED) officer to three years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5.5 lakh in a bribery case, an official said on Friday.

Lalit Bazad, former Enforcement officer at the ED, working in Bengaluru Directorate is the convicted individual.

He was serving on deputation from Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise, Chennai. The officer was convicted for having demanded and accepted Rs 5 lakh as illegal gratification from a private complainant.

The convicted officer had put the private complainant under fear of illegal harm to his business and reputation by entangling him in endless legal proceedings, the statement by the CBI said.

It can be recalled that in March, 2023, the Special Court for CBI cases ordered the framing of charges against Lalit Bazad for offences punishable under Section 384 IPC and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Amended), for allegedly extorting money in a case involving harassment over instant loan offered by mobile apps linked to China.

The court had earlier stated: “The statement of the witnesses is backed by relevant Call Details Records (CDR) extract and CCTV footage. Thus, there is ample material that makes out a clear prima facie case against the accused. While a strong suspicion is sufficient to frame charges, in this case, there is a clear prima facie case that implicates the accused."

"The material on record reflects that the accused is a public servant who is a responsible ED official, and had extorted money from Mikhil Innani, director of Apollo Finvest,” the court added.

The chargesheet mentioned: "The convict had demanded and accepted bribe of Rs 5 lakh from Innani, who was summoned to the ED office on February 2, 2021."

Investigation revealed that an ECIR was registered on January 13, 2021, to look into allegations of harassment and Chinese connection to mobile apps giving instant loans. The convict was assisting Manoj Mittal, deputy director, ED, who was the investigating officer.

Bazad initially demanded Rs 50 lakh in cash from Innani, when he visited the ED office in Bengaluru to avoid involving Apollo Finvest in the inquiry, failing which he threatened that he would entangle Apollo Finvest with unnecessary legal action and spoil its business.

Earlier, in February 2021, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials had arrested a multi-tasking staff member working with the Enforcement Directorate, Bengaluru, for allegedly masquerading as an enforcement officer and attempting to extort Rs 2 crore from a businessman by threatening to conduct raids on him.

--IANS

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