FIR aginst 4 cops in bribery case linked to cyber fraud

Bhopal: An FIR was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act against SHO Aishbagh Jitendra Garhwal, ASI Manoj Kumar, Head Constable Dharmendra Singh, and ASI Pawan Raghuvanshi past midnight on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in a bribery case linked to a cyber fraud call centre. The action was taken after ASI Pawan Raghuvanshi was detained for allegedly accepting a Rs 5 lakh bribe. Following this, the Bhopal Police Commissioner reassigned the investigation of the case from ACP Jahangirabad Surabhi Meena to ACP Habibganj Nihit Upadhyay, who will now lead the probe.
During the investigation, a new name surfaced—Anshul Jain, a corporator from Tikamgarh, who reportedly delivered Rs 5 lakh bribe on behalf of Moeen Khan. Anshul initially contested as an independent candidate in Tikamgarh's municipal elections before later joining the BJP. He was also made an accused in the FIR, bringing the total number of accused in this case to five. Officials stated that more individuals might be charged if further links to the bribery scheme are uncovered.
Arrests of police officials inevitable
The accused police officials were booked under Sections 7, 13(1), and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 61(2) (Criminal Conspiracy) of BNS. Given the nature of the case, the arrest of all police officers involved is expected. Their detention is likely to occur during ACP Nihit Upadhyay's ongoing investigation. Although ASI Pawan Raghuvanshi was initially taken into custody, whether he was later released or ran away could not be confirmed. Police officers said that he would be arrested soon.
No transfer of the case to Lokayukta
There were speculations that the case might be transferred to the Lokayukta for investigation, but senior officials denied this possibility. Instead, the entire case file was handed over to ACP Habibganj by former investigator ACP Surabhi Meena, ensuring that Bhopal police continue to handle the probe internally.
One-day remand granted for cyber fraud accused
Meanwhile, the main accused in the cyber fraud call centre case, Afzal Khan, was produced before the court on Thursday after the completion of his previous remand period. The court granted the police an additional one-day remand for further interrogation.