NEW DELHI (Kashmir English): India’s investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has arrested a Lieutenant Colonel posted in the Department of Defence Production of the Ministry of Defence and a civilian on charges of corruption.
The agency also conducted raids in several cities, including Sri Ganganagar, Delhi, Bangalore, and Jammu as part of the investigation.
According to Indian media reports, the arrested officer has been identified as Lieutenant Colonel Deepak Kumar Sharma, who was serving as Deputy Planning Officer in International Cooperation and Exports in the Department of Defence Production.
The other arrested civilian has been identified as Vinod Kumar, who is accused of providing the bribe to the officer.
According to the CBI, an alleged bribe of 3 lakh rupees and additional cash of 2 crore 23 lakh rupees were recovered from Deepak Kumar Sharma’s house in Delhi.
Further 10 lakh rupees were seized from locations linked to the accused in Sri Ganganagar. In addition, documents and other evidence were also obtained.
According to the agency, two Bangalore residents, Rajiv Yadav and Ravjeet Singh, who handle the company’s Indian operations, were in constant contact with Sharma and were cooperating in obtaining illegal benefits.
According to the CBI, on December 18, Lieutenant Colonel Deepak Kumar also received a bribe of three lakh rupees from Rajiv Yadav and Ravjeet Singh.
According to the report, the case was registered on Friday based on specific information against Deepak Kumar Sharma, his wife Colonel Kajal Bali, who is the commander of the 16th Infantry Division Ordnance Unit in Sri Ganganagar, and other unknown government officials and civilians, including a Dubai-based company.
The CBI has stated that Deepak Sharma was obtaining illegal benefits by colluding with representatives of private defence companies.
Arrest of army officer on corruption charges
After this news broke, there has been a strong reaction from Indian social media users. Some users are expressing concern over the arrest of the army officer on corruption charges, while others said that the matter should be thoroughly investigated.
One user wrote in his post on X, “Keep catching these corrupt people, they are destroying our country from within.”
An Indian user named Advocate Anand wrote, “There are many more wolves behind this uniform.”
