CBI arrests 3, including EPFO officials, for accepting Rs 10 lakh bribe

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested three individuals, including a Regional Provident Fund Commissioner and an Enforcement Officer (EO) employed with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in Baddi, Solan district. The arrests were made for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 5 lakh cash and Rs 5 lakh in self-cheques) from a complainant.

According to reports, CBI registered a case against the EO, a private consultant, and other unknown EPFO officers on November 24, based on allegations made by the complainant. The complainant alleged that the accused Enforcement Officer demanded an undue advantage of Rs 10 lakh through the private consultant for himself and other senior EPFO officers to favourably settle a pending PF demand case.

CBI laid a trap and caught the private consultant accepting the bribe on behalf of the accused Enforcement Officer and Regional Provident Fund Commissioner. All three accused were arrested and will be produced in court.

CBI conducted searches at seven locations in Baddi, Solan, Shimla, and Chandigarh, recovering approximately Rs 23.5 lakh in cash and incriminating documents from the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner’s premises in Chandigarh.