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Extortion case: ED officer sent to 5-day police custody

By, Chandigarh
Jan 18, 2025 08:36 AM IST

Vishal Deep, assistant director with the Enforcement Directorate’s Shimla unit, will be produced in a court on January 22; CBI informs court that a portion of bribe amount and phones of accused are yet to be seized.

The CBI court of special judge Alka Malik on Friday remanded Vishal Deep, assistant director with the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Shimla, to five-day police custody. Vishal Deep was brought on production warrant from the Ambala jail on Friday and produced in the Chandigarh CBI court. He will now be produced in the court on January 22.

The bribery allegations first surfaced on December 22, 2024, when the CBI’s Chandigarh unit registered two FIRs based on complaints from bizmen. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The bribery allegations first surfaced on December 22, 2024, when the CBI’s Chandigarh unit registered two FIRs based on complaints from bizmen. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Pointing to a larger conspiracy and that the role of other public and private persons is under the scanner, the CBI stated that the police custody of Vishal Deep is necessary. “During the investigation, a sum of 1.25 crore has been recovered including the bribe amount of 54 lakh. Another bribe sum of 1 lakh is yet to be recovered. Also, the mobile phone/s from which accused Vishal Deep and others had called the complainant for demanding and accepting the bribe in question is yet to be recovered,” said the CBI.

The CBI public prosecutor Narender Singh added that the WhatsApp call received by the complainant was recorded on DVR in the presence of independent witnesses and voice of Vishal Deep in the call was identified by Hanit Jaiswal, Sunil and Niraj, all officials from ED’s Shimla office. The specimen voice of Vishal Deep is yet to taken for comparison with questioned voice from the CFSL, said the CBI.

The CBI prosecutor said the accused had been evading investigation since December 22, 2024 and had never joined investigation in the instant case deliberately. “A notice dated January 1, 2025 was issued for his presence but he did not join. The probe is being hampered severely as this accused is required to be interrogated in police custody,” he added.

The bribery allegations first surfaced on December 22, 2024, when the CBI’s Chandigarh unit registered two FIRs based on complaints lodged by Bhupinder Kumar Sharma, chairman of Dev Bhumi Group of Institutions, Una, and Rajneesh Bansal, chairman of Himalayan Group of Professional Institutions, Sirmour. Both accused Vishal Deep and other ED officials of “demanding bribes for not arresting them” in connection with cases registered against their institutions by ED.

Vikas Deep and Niraj, both relatives of Vishal Deep, have already been arrested in this matter.

On January 10 this year, the Panchkula police had arrested Vishal Deep for allegedly blackmailing and extorting money from a businessman. The arrest followed a complaint filed by Vishal Bansal, brother of Rajneesh Bansal, alleging threats to his family.

This arrest came close on the heels of an earlier incident wherein the CBI’s Chandigarh unit arrested Vishal Deep in Mumbai on charges of corruption.

Following Vishal Deep’s arrest, the CBI sought his transit remand, citing the need to recover additional documents related to the case. However, a special court in Mumbai had rejected the CBI’s plea, ruling that the arrest was illegal and ordered his release.

The CBI court in Chandigarh dismissed the anticipatory bail plea filed by Vishal Deep two days ago. Lodged in Ambala jail, the CBI had procured his production warrants yesterday.

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