CBI books Western Coalfields official, wife; seizes Rs 17 lakh, 900 gm gold

New Delhi, Dec 21 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seized Rs 17 lakh in cash and 900 gm gold while registering a case of possessing disproportionate assets (DA) against an area sales manager of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) in Nagpur, and his wife, an official said on Sunday.

The CBI registered the case on December 18 on the allegation of the two accused possessing assets amounting to Rs 45.23 lakh which are disproportionate to their known sources of income.

"After registration of the case, searches were conducted on Saturday at premises linked with the accused persons. The searches led to the recovery of huge cash amount, immovable and movable properties," a CBI official said.

During searches, Rs 17 lakh cash, gold weighing 900 grams and apart from declared immovable assets, one built-up house at Mohali (Punjab) and three agriculture lands at Dhanbad (Jharkhand) and one luxury vehicle were also found, the central probe agency said.

Earlier, in a separate case, the CBI on Saturday arrested a serving Army officer and a private individual in connection with a bribery case involving alleged corruption in the defence production and export sector.

The arrested officer was identified as Lieutenant Colonel Deepak Kumar Sharma, Deputy Planning Officer (International Cooperation and Exports) in the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, the CBI said in a statement.

A private person, Vinod Kumar, was also taken into custody for allegedly acting as a conduit for the bribe.

According to the CBI, the case was registered on December 19 based on reliable source information.

The central probe agency has alleged that Lieutenant Colonel Sharma was habitually indulging in corrupt and illegal activities in criminal conspiracy with representatives of private companies dealing in defence manufacturing and exports.

In exchange for undue favours from various government departments and Ministries, Lieutenant Colonel Sharma allegedly accepted illegal gratification.

The FIR also names Lieutenant Colonel Sharma's wife, Colonel Kajal Bali, who is currently serving as Commanding Officer of the 16 Infantry Division Ordnance Unit in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar along with other accused, including a Dubai-based company.

The central probe agency alleged that Rajiv Yadav and Ravjit Singh were managing the Indian operations of the said company from Bengaluru and were in regular contact with Lieutenant Colonel Sharma to secure favours through illegal means.

Investigators claim that Vinod Kumar delivered a bribe of Rs 3 lakh to Lieutenant Colonel Sharma on December 18 on behalf of the company.

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