CBI court sentences 2 SSB officers to 1-year jail for misappropriation of seized goods

New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) A special CBI court in Patna on Wednesday convicted two officers of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) for misappropriating seized goods worth Rs 24 lakh and sentenced them to one year of rigorous imprisonment (RI).

The court found Vijay Kumar Jha, then Assistant Commandant, and Apurva Sarkar, then Sub-Inspector, both of the 19th Battalion, SSB, Bathnaha in Forbesganj, guilty of conspiring to misappropriate a truckload of betel nuts that had been seized during operations.

Both officers were also directed to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 each.

The case dates back to 2009 when CBI, acting on source information, registered a case alleging that Anand Kumar, then Deputy Commandant of the same battalion, along with Jha, Sarkar and others, entered into a criminal conspiracy to fraudulently and dishonestly divert seized goods for personal gain.

“CBI registered the instant case on the basis of source information alleging that Anand Kumar, the then Dy. Commandant, Vijay Kumar Jha, then Asstt. Commandant and Apurva Sarkar, the SI, all 19th BN, SSB, Bathnaha, Forbesganj and other unknown at Bathnaha entered into a criminal conspiracy among themselves during the year 2009 and fraudulently and dishonestly misappropriated one truck of betel nuts seized by them costing around Rs 24 lakh by abusing their official position as public servants,” CBI said in a press statement.

Following the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on July 13, 2012, against Anand Kumar, Jha, and Sarkar.

However, Anand Kumar passed away during the course of the trial, leaving the proceedings to continue against the remaining two accused.

After examining the evidence, the court held that the charges against Jha and Sarkar were proven beyond a doubt.

It convicted them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, sentencing them to one year of rigorous imprisonment along with a monetary penalty.

The verdict underscores the judiciary’s zero tolerance for corruption within security forces tasked with guarding India’s borders, where cases of misappropriation of seized goods have been a recurring concern.

--IANS

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