Corruption
Provident Commissioner arrested by CBI in Rs 10 lacs Bribery Trap
Shimla – The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three individuals, including a Regional Provident Fund Commissioner and an Enforcement Officer (EO) of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in Baddi, Solan district, Himachal Pradesh. The arrests were made for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to settle a pending Provident Fund (PF) demand case.
The bribe amount comprised Rs 5 lakh in cash and Rs 5 lakh in self-cheques, allegedly solicited through a private consultant. Acting on a complaint lodged on November 24, the CBI registered a case against the Enforcement Officer, the consultant, and other unidentified EPFO officials.
The complainant alleged that the accused Enforcement Officer demanded the bribe for himself and senior EPFO officers to resolve the PF demand case favorably. In a swift operation, CBI laid a trap and apprehended the private consultant while he was accepting the bribe on behalf of the Enforcement Officer and the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner. All three accused individuals were taken into custody and will be presented before a court.
In connection with the case, CBI conducted searches across seven locations, including Baddi, Solan, Shimla, and Chandigarh. During the raids, investigators recovered approximately Rs 23.5 lakh in cash and incriminating documents from the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner’s premises in Chandigarh.
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The arrests and seizures highlight the ongoing efforts by the CBI to crack down on corruption in public institutions. The recovered documents are expected to provide further leads into the case, potentially uncovering a broader nexus within the EPFO.
This development underscores the importance of vigilance and strict action against corruption to uphold transparency and accountability in government institutions.