CBI arrests 3 officials of Panvel-based Assistant Drugs Controller office in bribery case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three officials of the Assistant Drugs Controller (India) office in Maharashtra's Panvel in a bribery case.

The agency had received information about ''rampant corruption'' in the Panvel office of the Assistant Drugs Controller of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), officials said.

Personnel of the CBI and the department vigilance conducted a surprise check on April 2, and during this, it surfaced that several private persons were collecting bribes on behalf of the suspect officials from Customs House Agents (CHAs) in the name of facilitating no-objection certificates (NOC) for their clients, they said.

''During the surprise check, a cash amount of Rs 1.52 lakh (approx) was recovered from the drawers of public servants and private persons, which the concerned public servants and private persons present in the said office could not satisfactorily explain,'' the agency's spokesperson said in a statement.

He said the unaccounted money was allegedly accepted by the suspect public servants as bribe from the CHAs or their representatives, either directly or through private persons, for issuing NOCs.

Based on findings, the CBI booked ”Assistant Drugs Controller Arvind R Hiwale, Drug Inspector Devendra Nath and subordinate staff Nageshwar N Sabbani, ”all posted at the Panvel office of the Assistant Drugs Controller (India), CDSCO, and three private persons, including one working on contractual basis, the spokesperson said.

The three officials were later arrested and searches at their residences resulted in the seizure of cash worth Rs 46.70 lakh and jewellery valued around Rs 27.80 Lakh, he said.

The spokesperson said documents pertaining to various immovable properties and other incriminating documents were also seized during the searches.

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