A senior customs superintendent was caught red-handed when he was accepting a bribe of Rs. 2.5 lakh for clearing a cargo of silk scarfs to Malaysia, at Kempegowda International Airport on Monday night. The sleuths from the Anti-Corruption Division of the Central Bureau of Investigationarrested the official identified as Lingaraj, and booked him under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. He was produced before the Special CBI Court on Tuesday, and Lingaraj was remanded in police custody for three days.
CBI officials said that a Chennai-based firm was exporting Rs. 55-lakh worth consignment of silk scarfs to Malaysia. “The official demanded a bribe of Rs. 10 lakh for claiming a custom duty drawback on the consignment. The representatives of the firm bargained and brought it down to Rs. 2.5 lakh, after which they lodged a complaint with us. We laid a trap and caught him on Monday,” CBI officials said.
