Rajasthan anti-corruption bureau arrests ED officer on bribery charge

In what is being seen as a counter-offensive launched by the Ashok Gehlot government against the misuse of the Central agencies, investigative Rajasthan's Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday arrested an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer posted in Imphal, Manipur, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15 lakh. His associate was also arrested by the bureau, officials said.

News agency PTI reported that the accused officer was allegedly demanding Rs 17 lakh in lieu of settling the case against a complainant in a chit fund case.

According to a statement by the bureau, those arrested are Naval Kishore Meena, enforcement officer of the ED in Imphal, and his local associate Babulal Meena.

The complainant informed the Bureau that ED officer Naval Kishore Meena had been asking for a bribe to settle the case registered against him in the office of the ED in Imphal.

After verifying the complaint, the ACB team arrested the two for allegedly taking a bribe amounting to Rs 15 lakh.

Naval Kishore is a resident of Vimalpura village of Bassi in Jaipur district, while his associate Babulal is working as a junior assistant in sub-registrar's office of Mundawar in the newly formed Kotpulti-Behror district.

It is worth recalling here that Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot was recently questioned by the ED in a 12-year-old case, and the ED also raided the house of Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasara under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).