The Central Bureau of Investigation has recovered cash amounting to ₹1 crore during searches to crackdown bribery at the Customs Department.

The CBI has arrested an Appraiser of the Customs Department and three others — a Customs House Agent, a middleman and a private person — in an alleged bribery case of ₹7 lakh.

The main accused is Saurav Sharma, former Appraiser, Inland Container Depot (ICD), Tughlakabad, presently posted at the office of Chief Commissioner of Customs, Chennai. The other accused are Customs House Agent Neeraj, middleman Ram Krishan Mishra and Kishore Kumar.

A CBI statement said that searches were conducted at the office of the Appraiser at Chennai, his previous office in ICD, Tughlakabad and residential premises of the accused located in Delhi, Noida, and Chennai. The searches led to the recovery of incriminating documents and cash of around ₹1 crore.

“It was alleged that the then Appraiser, ICD, Tughlakabad, Delhi (presently posted in the Office of Chief Commissioner of Customs, Chennai since July 2020) was regularly pursuing private parties and a few officials for payment of pending undue advantage in lieu of import consignments cleared by him during his tenure at ICD, Tughlakabad, Delhi,” said the CBI.

“It was also alleged that various parties had been approaching the middleman to pursue their pending matters with the said Appraiser. It was further alleged that the Appraiser asked the middleman that a person will collect payment of undue advantage (illegal gratification) on his behalf,” the CBI added.

The CBI said the middleman had allegedly delivered the payment of ₹7 lakh as part of undue advantage (illegal gratification) to the said private person. The CBI caught the middleman, the said private person and the Customs House Agent, and recovered ₹7 lakh.