CBI Arrests ED Director in Odisha Bribery Scandal

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has apprehended Chintan Raghuvanshi, a high-ranking official of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Odisha, on allegations of accepting a Rs 20 lakh bribe from a local businessman.

Raghuvanshi, a 2013-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, is accused of demanding an ostensible sum of Rs 5 crore from businessman Ratikanta Rout in return for leniency in an ongoing probe by the ED. Following negotiations, the demand was purportedly reduced to Rs 2 crore, with a preliminary installment transferred to a middleman.

A sting operation conducted by the CBI on Thursday caught the middleman accepting the bribe from Rout, leading to Raghuvanshi's arrest after extensive interrogation. He has been remanded into judicial custody, with his bail petition scheduled for hearing on June 4.

(With inputs from agencies.)