CBI files chargesheet against Customs officers

Kochi: CBI has filed a chargesheet in the agency’s court in Ernakulam in a corruption case against Customs officers. The allegation in the FIR was that CBI received info about alleged corruption by Customs officers at Calicut International Airport and a joint surprise check (JSC) was conducted by a team at the airport from 3:30am on Jan 12, 2021. The team included members from CBI’s anti-corruption branch in Cochin and also officials from DRI in Cochin.
During JSC, the team found that the accused Customs officers were facilitating the import of contraband items for trade by releasing them without assessing, valuing or under-valuing the goods after receiving a hefty sum as bribe from the smugglers. CBI said investigation revealed that officers were colluding with smugglers to release baggage containing contraband without imposing Customs duty.
The demand and acceptance of bribe was revealed from CCTV footage at the Customs area apart from the versions of smugglers during interrogation, said CBI. The chargesheet was filed by CBI inspector (Cochin) NR Suresh.
The chargesheet was filed against Jose KM (Customs superintendent), E Ganapathy Potty (Customs superintendent), Yaser Arafath K (inspector Customs), Satyamendra Singh (Customs superintendent), Naresh (inspector Customs), Sudhir Kumar (inspector Customs), Minimol VC (inspector Customs), Sanjeev Kumar (inspector Customs), Yogesh (inspector Customs), Asha S(Customs superintendent), Ashokan C (head havaldar, Customs) Francis PM (head havaldar, Customs) and Mani K (sub staff, Calicut International Airport) along with 17 Kasaragod-based smugglers.