CBI books three customs officials in Rs 35 lakh bribery case linked to Mizoram smuggling

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered an FIR against three customs officials, including a retired superintendent and two inspectors, who were previously posted in Mizoram, for allegedly accepting bribes amounting to more than Rs 35 lakh from smugglers, the agency said in a statement.

The accused officials are alleged to have released smuggled consignments after receiving illegal gratification. The case was formally registered on February 3 following a complaint lodged by the Additional Commissioner of CGST, Guwahati.

According to the CBI, the officials abused their official positions while serving with the Customs Preventive Force in Champhai town of east Mizoram, a sensitive transit point along the India–Myanmar border, during the period 2022–2023.

The agency stated that the officials intercepted consignments of areca nuts (betel nuts) and foreign cigarettes but failed to follow legal procedures, including the filing of proper seizure documentation.

It is alleged that the accused demanded and accepted bribes exceeding ₹35 lakh on multiple occasions in exchange for releasing the confiscated smuggled goods.

A subsequent inspection of godowns revealed that seized goods worth over ₹1.42 crore, confiscated between December 2022 and April 2023, were missing from official stock records, the statement added.

To trace the money trail and recover incriminating evidence, the CBI conducted simultaneous searches at residential and official premises of the accused across five states, including Guwahati in Assam, Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikar in Rajasthan, Patna in Bihar, and Churachandpur in Manipur.