CBI court convicts former customs officer under charges of corruption

Singh was re-arrested by the CBI from Uttar Pradesh, where he was reportedly working in a private medical college.

A special CBI court on Friday convicted a former customs officer, who had been on the run for 20 years, on charges including corruption in a case dating back to 1999. The accused, who was an appraising officer of customs, had been absconding before the chargesheet was filed against him.

The special court directed the officer, Abhinav Singh, to pay a fine of Rs 9 lakh, and sentenced him to over a year in jail, which he has already undergone since his arrest last year.

Singh was re-arrested by the CBI from Uttar Pradesh, where he was reportedly working in a private medical college. He was booked for causing wrongful loss to the government to the tune of Rs 4 crore, by way of loss of customs duty on imported goods by confirming fake Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scrips, said Jitendra Sharma, Special Public Prosecutor for the CBI. Singh was convicted for cheating, criminal conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.