CBI arrests OSD to Delhi Dy CM Manish Sisodia
NEW DELHI : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested a Delhi, Andaman Nicobar Island Civil Services (DANICS) officer, Gopal Krishna Madhav, who is posted in the office of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia after he was allegedly caught red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 2 Lakh. The arrest of Madhav comes two days before the crucial Delhi assembly election.
A senior CBI official said it arrested Gopal Krishna Madhav in a late-night operation for allegedly receiving a bribe of over Rs 2 lakh in a matter related to GST. The CBI official said that the officer has demanded Rs 2 lakh to settle an issue of tax. After arresting him, the CBI sleuths took him to the agency’s headquarters in south Delhi’s Lodhi road for questioning.
Meanwhile, Manish Sisodia took to Twitter on Friday to say that the official should be given the “strictest punishment”. He claimed that the officer was his former OSD even though the agency said otherwise.
The development comes just a day ahead of voting for the 70-member Delhi assembly. The BJP, AAP and Congress are locked in a triangular contest for the throne to the Capital. While the polls are a litmus test for the BJP since the outrage over the Citizenship Amendment Act, Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP hopes to repeat its 2015 magic.
Manish Sisodia, the Dy CM of Delhi, put out a series of tweets this morning on the arrest of an official in his office by the CBI for bribe-taking. He called for “strict action” against the officer, as the late night arrest on the verge of the Saturday Delhi election fueled political allegations. The arrested officer, Madhav, worked as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Sisodia’s office.
He was reportedly caught while taking a bribe to “settle” a tax evasion case. The CBI had laid a trap for him, ANI reported. “I got to know that an officer who is posted at GST (Goods and Services Tax) and has been an OSD with me for five years has been arrested for taking a bribe of Rs 2 lakhs. What CBI did is right, strictest action should be taken to set an example,” said Mr Sisodia.
“I have no issues with the timing of arrest, whoever takes bribe should be caught immediately. We have zero tolerance for corruption,” he added. He had also said in tweets that the officer should be punished severely. Madhav was appointed as an OSD to the Deputy Chief Minister in 2015. The Press Trust of India quoted sources as saying no involvement of Mr Sisodia had been found.
“OSD caught extracting bribe for Manish Sisodia. Had taken an instalment of Rs 2 lakh from a total bribe of Rs 10 lakh…They are all thieves, only pretend to be Aam Aadmi (common man). Now we know why they didn’t bring in the Lokpal (anti-corruption watchdog),” tweeted BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.
Taking a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after the CBI arrested an Officer , the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said that traders were being targeted by the Kejriwal government. Reacting to this, Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from AAP, Sanjay Singh, said BJP should give evidence regarding their allegations.
