Maharashtra: CBI raids PESO official's Nagpur house in bribery case, recovers Rs 5.86 lakh

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the residence of an official from the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO) in Maharashtra's Nagpur in an alleged case of bribery. The officials of the central agency recovered Rs 5.86 lakh unaccounted cash, an official said on Saturday, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, with CBI's raid, which was conducted on Friday, the total cash seized in the bribery case so far was around Rs 2.22 crore, the official said.

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The CBI had on Thursday apprehended Ashok Kumar Dalela and Vivek Kumar, deputy chief controllers of explosives at PESO, for allegedly accepting bribes, the official said, as per the PTI.

The probe agency had also arrested Priyadarshan Dinkar Deshpande, a resident of Nagpur, and Devi Singh Kachhawaha, the director of Super Shivshakti Chemical located in Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan.

As part of the ongoing investigation, CBI officials on Friday conducted a raid at the rented residence of P Kumar, a chief controller of explosives at PESO, in the Hajaripahad area and recovered unaccounted cash and incriminating documents, he said, the news agency reported on Saturday.

The official said that three properties belonging to Kumar have been identified in Panvel in Navi Mumbai, Ghaziabad and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, the PTI reported.

The CBI team recovered Rs 5.86 lakh cash during the raid, following which Kumar was interrogated, he said, as per the PTI.

Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation (PESO) is a nodal government agency regulating the safety of hazardous substances such as explosives, compressed gases and petroleum.

As per the FIR, Deshpande, working as an intermediary, conspired to get work for Kachhawaha's firm by paying bribes to PESO officials.

The firm wanted to utilise its electronic detonator manufacturing capacity up to 75 per cent by March 2024, and the accused allegedly facilitated amendments to the existing licence of the company to facilitate this.

The CBI on Wednesday evening caught Deshpande and Kachhawaha at a typing shop near the PESO office on Seminary Hills here while allegedly accepting Rs 10 lakh in cash.

Subsequently, the agency allegedly recovered Rs 1.25 crore from Deshpande's residence and another Rs 90 lakh from the office of one of the accused PESO officials.

(with PTI inputs)