Mumbai: CBI books 3 over bribe demand for quick bank loan

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a criminal offence against three people who allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 3.75 lakh for helping the complainant get a personal loan. The trio claimed that they can get the loan process swiftly done, given their contacts in the Nagpur-based branch of a nationalised bank. The accused were identified as Chandrapur resident Santosh Singh and Nagpur residents Manoj Sharma and Viru Shedame.

The complainant, who is an auto electrician by profession, had shared his plan of getting a loan of Rs 25 lakh with the accused. Subsequently, Singh assured him that they could get his work done easily, provided the complainant needs to give a commission of 15 per cent of loan amount, which is Rs 3.75 lakh, to them. They had also said that the bank official needs to be bribed for quick clearance of his loan proposal.

The complainant then approached the CBI, with the phone recording of the entire conversation with one of the accused. During initial investigations, the allegations were found to be true hence revealing the criminal conspiracy between the trio.

Sharma had demanded the payment of the bribery amount through cheque, the CBI said in its FIR. Based on the complaint of the aggrieved, a case was registered on Friday against the trio under the Indian Penal Code section 120B (criminal conspiracy) as well as the section 7A (taking undue advantage to influence a public servant by corrupt or illegal means) of The Prevention of Corruption Act.