CBI searches premises of ED officer in Shimla, seizes cash
New Delhi, Dec 28: The CBI has searched the premises of an assistant director of the ED in Shimla, who managed to give a slip to the agency during a trap operation on Sunday and escaped, officials said.
The assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) posted at Shimla and his brother Vikas Deep, a senior manager in the Punjab National Bank in Delhi, had allegedly gone to Chandigarh to receive bribe money from a businessman, who is facing a case lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
The businessman filed a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about alleged extortion, based on which the Chandigarh unit of the agency planned the trap operation where the complainant was asked to give a bribe of Rs 55 lakh in cash to the officer with CBI sleuths keeping an eye, the officials said.
It was planned that the CBI would nab the accused after the bribe was allegedly received by him, they said.
The ED officer, who is on deputation from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), got alerted during the operation and allegedly fled the spot with the cash, the officials said.
The agency has been trying to locate him for six days. It has even launched technical surveillance to pin-point his location but to no avail.
The CBI conducted searches at his residence on Friday and seized cash amounting to around Rs 56 lakh, the officials said.
So far, cash amounting to around Rs 1 crore, including the bribe amount, has been recovered, they added.
The car used by the absconding officer to escape was also located at the ED office, the officials said.
The CBI has arrested Vikas Deep in connection with the case and produced him before a court, they said.
The agency is questioning him regarding his alleged involvement in the case.
Sources in the ED said the accused assistant director of its Shimla sub-zonal office and his supervisory officers -- a deputy director and the joint director (based in Chandigarh) -- have been transferred to Delhi following the case.
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Wildfires race across Chile, leaving 15 dead, forcing thousands to flee
Penco (Chile) (AP): Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile on Sunday left at least 15 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed scores of homes, authorities said, as the South American country swelters under a heat wave.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in the country's central Biobio region and the neighbouring Nuble region, around 500 kilometres south of Santiago, the capital.
The emergency designation allows greater coordination with the military to rein in two dozen wildfires that have so far blazed through 8,500 hectares and prompted 50,000 people to evacuate, according to Chilean Security Minister Luis Cordero.
“All resources are available,” Boric wrote on X.
But local officials reported that for hours on Sunday, destruction was everywhere and help from the federal government was nowhere.
“Dear President Boric, from the bottom of my heart, I have been here for four hours, a community is burning and there is no (government) presence,” said Rodrigo Vera, the mayor of the small coastal town of Penco in the Biobio region. “How can a minister do nothing but call me to tell me that the military is going to arrive at some point?”
Firefighters were struggling to extinguish the flames, but strong winds and scorching weather hampered their efforts Sunday with temperatures topping 38 C (100 F).
Residents said that the fires took them by surprise after midnight, trapping them in their homes.
“Many people didn't evacuate. They stayed in their houses because they thought the fire would stop at the edge of the forest,” said John Guzman, 55, surveying the scene in Penco, where smoke blanketed the sky in an orange haze. “It was completely out of control. No one expected it."
Although the total number of homes burned nationwide remained unclear, one municipality of Concepcion in Biobio reported 253 homes destroyed.
“We fled running, with the kids, in the dark,” said Juan Lagos, 52, also in Penco. The fire engulfed most of the city, burning cars, a school and a church.
Charred bodies were found across fields, homes, along roads and in cars.
“From what we can see, there are people who died ... and we knew them well," said Víctor Burboa, 54. "Everyone here knew them.”
