The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has officially closed the Rs 2 crore bribery case involving suspended Rajasthan Police Service (RPS) officer and former Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Divya Mittal. The case made headlines in 2023 when the ACB arrested Mittal over allegations of a Rs 2 crore briber in connection with a narcotics case.
The case dates back to May 2021.
It all began when narcotic medicines worth around Rs 16 crore were seized in Jaipur and Ajmer in Rajasthan. The investigation was being handled by the Ajmer Special Operations Group (SOG), which was then headed by Divya Mittal.
The investigation into the drug case brought a Haridwar-based pharmaceutical company and its owner to the fore. Mittal allegedly demanded Rs 2 crore from the pharma owner in exchange for removing his name from the case and ensuring that he was not arrested.
The alleged demand was made through dismissed constable Sumit, who was accused of acting as an intermediary.
The alleged bribe amount was eventually settled at Rs 50 lakh, with Rs 25 lakh to be paid as the first instalment.
Following the complaint, the ACB conducted a verification and recorded conversations related to the alleged demand. Subsequently, an operation was planned to catch Mittal.
The operation, however, did not go as planned after Mittal allegedly learnt about the ACB action.
The ACB proceeded with the case based on the verification and recorded conversations and arrested Mittal on 16 January, 2023. Mittal's bail plea was rejected by a special ACB court.
Around 100 days after her arrest, the High Court granted her bail in March 2023.
In March 2023, the ACB filed an 11,500-page chargesheet stating that Mittal had allegedly accepted Rs 1 crore and demanded Rs 2 crore as a bribe. The ACB applied for prosecution sanction against her, but it was also rejected. The ACB reportedly failed to present evidence strong enough to secure the sanction.
The case had triggered further scrutiny of Divya Mittal's financial affairs, with a separate disproportionate assets case and allegations relating to another Rs 1 crore bribery case also emerging during the subsequent proceedings.
The case has now been closed.
The focus now shifts to the reasons and grounds on which the case was closed and the status of proceedings, if any, against the suspended officer.
