New Delhi, 15 October (H.S.): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a deputy director-level official of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in Chennai and two private individuals, including a lawyer, in connection with an alleged bribery and corruption case.

The CBI had registered a case against an SFIO official under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in Chennai, a lawyer and other individuals. The accused have been identified as Harish Kumar Tanwar, deputy director at the SFIO in Chennai; advocate Bharat Sharma; and Aryan Sharma, a relative of Bharat Sharma.

According to the allegations, the accused demanded an undue advantage of rupees 1 crore from the complainant in exchange for favouring his interests in an investigation being conducted by the SFIO into the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) scam.

Following verification of the complaint and registration of a First Information Report (FIR), the CBI laid a trap and arrested all three accused. The lawyer allegedly received rupees 20 lakh from the complainant as part payment of the rupees 1 crore bribe demanded on behalf of the SFIO official.

During searches of the premises belonging to the public servant and the advocate, investigators recovered incriminating material related to the case.

The investigation is ongoing.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar