Chandigarh: A late night raid on a Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) office in Mohali, followed by a dramatic chase, led CBI to arrest three persons, including a father and son, in an alleged Rs 20 lakh bribery case on Monday.A fourth suspect, OP Rana — reader to the Punjab Vigilance DG — is on the run. The arrested trio have been identified as Vikas Goyal alias Vikki Goyal, his son Raghav and their driver Ankit Wadhwan, all of them from Malout in Punjab’s Sri Muktsar Sahib. A special CBI court on Tuesday remanded Vikas and Raghav in the agency’s custody for three days and sent Ankit to jail for 14 days. It also issued a non-bailable warrant against Rana.According to CBI, it was surprised to see that the accused were provided AK-47 toting Punjab Police gunmen. It’s investigating why security was provided to private individuals and if the gunmen had any role.Punjab vigilance chief SS Chauhan told mediapersons that ‘private people’ had been arrested and assured that VB will “fully cooperate with CBI’s investigation and whatever action they are taking”. CBI had registered the case on the complaint of Amit Kumar, a state tax officer posted at Malout, who alleged that Vikas and his son demanded a Rs 20 lakh bribe to close a disproportionate assets case against him at the DG-vigilance office.According to the complaint, Vikas and Raghav used to present themselves as close associates of senior Punjab vigilance officials and Rana had assured Kumar the complaint against him would be “settled” if he paid up. The bribe was allegedly negotiated down to Rs 13 lakh plus an expensive mobile phone. Kumar, however, approached CBI.After verifying the complaint, CBI laid a trap in Chandigarh on Monday and caught Wadhwa accepting Rs 13 lakh in cash and the phone at the Mohali office. According to CBI, Vikas, Raghav and Rana escaped after allegedly being warned by the Punjab Police gunmen.The CBI team pursued them and nabbed Vikas and his son near Ambala, around 50km away. Rana gave them the slip and teams are out looking for him.CBI searched the houses of Raghav and Vikas in Malout, 275km from Mohali, and Rana’s office in Chandigarh, and seized around Rs 9 lakh in cash and important documents. The investigation revealed that sensitive information related to pending Vigilance cases was being shared between Rana and the accused, says the agency. CBI is investigating how extensive this bribery network was and whether other officials or middlemen were involved.During the trio’s court production, the prosecution said that several senior officials had come under suspicion during the investigation and that there was the possibility of “large-scale influence and collusion within the vigilance department”.CBI told the court that Vikas and Raghav had introduced complainant Kumar to Rana, who allegedly told him that Rs 13 lakh was to go to “sahab” while he himself only wanted the phone. The court was informed that he even specified the colour of the mobile.CBI cited WhatsApp chats between the arrested trio and Rana and said they needed to be confronted face-to-face with Rana to uncover the entire network.The defence counsel opposed remand, arguing that the cash and phone had already been seized from the accused and their mobiles were in CBI custody. The agency, however, told the court that police remand was necessary for interrogation, examination of electronic records and digital evidence. The court remanded Vikas and Raghav in CBI custody for three days.
