Court grants bail to Delhi police officer accused of taking bribe of Rs 10 lakhs

New Delhi [India], November 21 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue court has granted bail to a Delhi Police Sub Inspector arrested by the CBI in a corruption case and accused of taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh on behalf of an Inspector.

He has been in custody since October 15, 2024. Another accused Inspector has already been granted bail.

Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal granted bail to Bhupesh Kumar on Wednesday after considering the submissions, facts, and circumstances of the case.

“In these facts and circumstances, on the grounds of parity, the accused Bhupesh Kumar is also admitted to bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety of like amount, subject to the conditions that he will not contact or influence the witnesses of this case nor he will temper with the evidence nor he will leave the country without the permission of this Court,” a Special Judge ordered on November 20.

The court observed, “Since, the co-accused Sandeep Kumar Ahlawat has already been released on bail vide order dated November 5, 2024, the recovery of Rs10 lakh, allegedly the bribe money has already been effected, the investigations linked to the present accused are almost complete on material points, he is no longer required for the investigations, he is continuously in custody since October 15, 2024.”

It was stated by Advocates Rishabh Jain and Kaushal Kant, Counsel for the accused that the accused has been in Judicial custody (JC since) October 15, and prior to that two days of police custody remand of this accused were also taken and investigations are almost complete, as most the material witnesses have already been examined on material points. Therefore, the accused be released on bail.

The CBI filed a reply and controverted the grounds taken in the bail application and it was stated that the CBI has all the apprehension that in the case, the accused Bhupesh Kumar SI is admitted to bail, being a local police officer would definitely try to win the prosecution witnesses and temper with the prosecution evidence and will seriously hamper the ongoing investigations of this case.

It is alleged that the accused was caught red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from the complainant Krishan Kumar on behalf of co-accused Inspector Sandeep Kumar Ahlawat and it is also stated that all the legal formalities have been duly observed while arresting the accused, therefore, there is no violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India or any other law.

Investigation Agency stated that the allegations against the accused are grave and granting bail would be against the larger interest of the public.

The CBI had registered a case on October 14, 2024, based on a complaint dated October 11, 2024, of Krishan a resident of North West Delhi against Sandeep Ahlawat, Inspector, Police Station Burari and SI Bhupesh Kumar.

It was alleged that a fake case bearing number had been registered in Buradi Police Station based on the complaint of one Brijesh Sharma against Krishan Kumar, Ajay Kumar and Nitish Jaiswal. Sandeep Ahlawat is the Investigation officer of the case.

It was further alleged that Sandeep Ahlawat demanded a bribe amount of Rs 1.5 crore to settle the said matter and asked the complainant to meet Bhupesh, Delhi Police in this matter.

Accordingly, the complainant met Sl Bhupesh at his house in Burari and on being requested by the complainant SI Bhupesh agreed to settle the said matter in place of Rs 1 crore and directed the complainant to meet him in the early morning on Monday, October 14, 2024 at football ground Pradhan Colony in Burari.

The CBI stated that during the investigation on October 15, 2024, a trap was laid wherein the accused Bhupesh Kumar, SI, Legal Cell, DCP, North West District, Delhi was caught red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe amount of Rs 10 lakh as 1st Instalment (Out of negotiated amount of Rs 1.50 crore on behalf of the accused Sandeep Kumar Ahlawat from the complainant Krishan Kumar.

It is also stated that during the trap proceedings on October 15, 2024, Sandeep Kumar Ahlawat and accused Bhupesh Kumar, were arrested.

The investigation of this case is still ongoing and at a crucial stage and evidence is yet to be collected, the agency said.