The CBI has sought the BSF's sanction to file chargesheet against Jibu D Mathew
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is all set to file a chargesheet against Jibu D Mathew, Commandant of the Border Security Force (BSF) who was arrested with nearly Rs 50 lakh in Kerala's Alappuzha railway station in 2018.
The CBI arrested Mr Mathew in January 2018 after he got down from a train at the station.
Investigators had seized Rs 45,30,500 from the bag he was carrying and searches at his premises led the CBI to find Rs 1.5 lakh.
Mr Mathew was serving as a Commandant of the BSF's 83 Battalion deployed along the border with Bangaldesh.
"The probe has revealed that he had been habitually accepting bribe from cattle smugglers operating along the international border of India and Bangladesh. This Rs 50 lakh was also part of the bribe that he was taking with him when he was returning to his hometown in Kerala for leave," a source told NDTV.
Investigators have also found that Mr Mathew, who was posted in the 83 Battalion since 2016, has also amassed wealth disproportionate to his known source of his income. Over 130 per cent of disproportionate assets have been unearthed in the probe and a separate case has been registered by the agency.
"The agency has sought sanction from the BSF to prosecute Mathew under the Prevention of Corruption Act. A chargesheet will be filed on receiving the sanction," the source said.