The CBI has arrested a Himachal Pradesh government official and a private individual in a Rs 5 lakh bribery case.
It was alleged that a private pharma company had sought 15 per cent capital investment subsidy on the purchase of new machinery installed in its factory.
To pass the private firm's claim of Rs 50 lakh, Tilak Raj Sharma, a joint director in the industries department, had demanded a bribe of Rs 10 lakh, CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said.
On the request of the private firm, which is the complainant in the case, the official agreed to accept Rs 5 lakh as first instalment, he said.
Gaur said the CBI laid a trap in Chandigarh and caught the accused red-handed last night.
The second arrested person has been identified as Ashok Rana.
"Searches led to recovery of Rs 38,960, a few (notes of) US Dollars and Euros, 170 gm gold, 350 gm silver; papers pertaining to LIC policies and bank locker keys," he said.
Sharma had allegedly told the complainant that a portion of the bribe demanded by him would also go to Raghuvanshi, a private secretary of the chief minister, in Delhi.
The CBI has alleged in its FIR that it has recorded this conversation and it will be used as evidence in the case in the court.
Sources, however, clarified that these were claims made by Sharma which were yet to be verified.
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