IRS officer Sahiram Meena's custody with the Anti-Corruption Bureau was extended Monday by a Kota court by two more days, said an ACB official.
A 1997-batch IRS officer, posted as an additional commissioner at Kota Narcotics Bureau was arrested by ACB sleuths Saturday while accepting a bribe of Rs one lakh, said ACB Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrasheel Thakur.
Thakur said Meena's custody was extended by the court after it was submitted to it that he was not cooperating with the investigative agency and proving to be a "hard nut to crack."
The court also extended the custody of middleman Kamlesh, who too was arrested along with Meena while giving him the bribe.
Thakur had earlier told reporters that Meena was arrested in a case of collusion between Kota Narcotics Bureau officials and village heads for licensed opium cultivators.
A man among licensed opium cultivators is appointed as head by the narcotics bureau for better coordination. We had received reports of various irregularities and illegal activities in collusion between department officials and such heads, said Thakur.
A trap was set and we apprehended Meena when he was accepting a bribe of Rs one lakh from Kamlesh on Saturday in Kota for making the latter's father the head of opium cultivators. Both Meena and Kamlesh were arrested, said Thakur.
After the arrest, the ACB had conducted extensive raids and found Meena owning properties worth crores of rupees, disproportionate to his known sources of income, he said.
Thakur said the accused IRS officer Monday also complained of chest pain and low blood pressure but he was declared "physically fit" after his medical examination at the MBS Hospital here.
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