CBI arrests improvement board legal officer for taking Rs 5 lakh bribe
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a legal officer of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and a “middleman” for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to unseal two shops of a businessman, officials said on Friday. The legal officer has been identified as Vijay Maggo.
The CBI has seized Rs 3.79 crore in cash, besides other incriminating documents, during searches on the premises of the accused.
Officials said it was alleged that the accused had demanded Rs 40 lakh from the complainant in the name of another officer of the DUSIB for getting his two shops unsealed and allow him to run those in an unhindered manner.
Following a complaint from the businessman, a trap was laid on Thursday and Mago was arrested red-handed while receiving Rs 5 lakh (a portion of the bribe amount), the officials said.
Meanwhile, the AAP, in a statement, said DUSIB Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had raised these very issue of corruption to the board earlier in the year. The then CEO of DUSIB had ignored the directions of the minister, the party claimed.
“In April, Bharadwaj had written to the Home Secretary, Government of India, explaining the corrupt practices being adopted in the matters pertaining to de-sealing of properties of DUSIB by misusing the powers conferred to them under the DUSIB Act by suppressing material information and misrepresentation of facts by the officers of the law section and vigilance section of the DUSIB,” the statement read.
It added that the minister had clearly mentioned that disciplinary action should be proceeded against junior law officer Maggo.
Despite these issues being raised multiple times, it said no action was taken against the officer.
Meanwhile, the party said the DUSIB CEO also wanted Maggo to be promoted as law officer and had even brought an agenda before the DUSIB Board in March. “However, this agenda was not accepted by the board’s Vice-Chairman Saurabh Bharadwaj and then chairman Arvind Kejriwal,” it added.
