SI arrested for graft used code, spoke of giving cut to 10, including one 'Sahab'

New Delhi: Delhi Police sub-inspector has now been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation for demanding a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from the accused in a case he was investigating in exchange for not opposing their bail pleas and favouring them in the case, officials here said on Thursday.

Significantly, according to information available with the investigators, Sub-Inspector Bhojraj, posted at the Maidangarhi police station here, had used code words such as "5 kg laddoo" and "5kg chini" for the bribe amount and had even disclosed that there were 10 people in total who were supposed to share this, including one "Sahab".

In a trap laid by CBI sleuths, SI Bhojraj was arrested while he was caught red-handed accepting Rs 50,000 in cash, the first installment of the bribe amount. Following this, officers raided his home and his car. They said they recovered over Rs 5.47 lakh from his car and Rs 1.07 crore cash from his residence.

Officials have added that he was produced before a local court on Thursday for remand hearings. They have also said that some evidentiary documents and articles had been seized from the home of the accused.

According to the FIR filed in the matter, SI Bhojraj was the investigating officer in an assault case against the complainant Manoj and some of his friends and had spoken to both the complainant and one of his friends demanding a bribe for favouring them in the investigation.

As per the calls between the complainant and SI Bhojraj, that the CBI recorded during their verification of the bribery complaint, the cop had said that he would not oppose the bail pleas of the accused and would also not show up in court for the hearing if he was given "Rs 5kg laddoo/chini". The complainant explained to the CBI that this was code for the bribe amount Rs 5 lakh.

During the exchanges that the CBI was recording, the SI had also allegedly mentioned that the complainants would have to give "at least 2" as there were 10 persons including "Sahab".

Importantly, by the time the first call was recorded by the CBI, the accused in the assault case had already secured bail in their case. In their bail hearing, SI Bhojraj had not shown up in court. During the first recorded call, the SI is heard saying that just as he had assured, he had decided not to show up in court and not oppose the pleas, as a result of which they had secured bail.

CBI officials aware of the investigation said that they are pursuing more leads in the case.