New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The CBI has arrested seven people, including two officers of the Indian Revenue Service posted at the Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone in Mumbai, in connection with an alleged bribery racket, officials said on Wednesday.

In an operation that started on Tuesday, the CBI arrested the IRS officers -- Joint Development Commissioner CPS Chauhan and Deputy Development Commissioner Prasad Varwantkar -- besides five other people, including two assistant development commissioners for allegedly favouring a group of middlemen in return for illicit monetary favours, they said.

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During searches at the premises of the arrested people and a joint surprise check, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seized around Rs 1.20 crore in cash besides property documents worth crores of rupees, they said.

No immediate reaction was available from the families or lawyers of the arrested people.

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The CBI has also taken into custody an assistant, an authorised officer, and an upper division clerk posted in the SEEPZ Office, Mumbai in a case of bribery involving allegations of “collusive corruption”, the agency spokesperson said in a statement.

"It was alleged that the officials posted at SEEPZ-SEZ Mumbai were collecting undue advantage through middlemen from the parties functioning from SEEPZ in the matters of allotment of space, disposal of imported goods, sale of duty-free imported goods in market without paying duty, favouring civil contractors, in lieu of monetary consideration,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

He said searches were conducted at the official and residential premises of the accused at various locations in Mumbai which led to the recovery of documents of 27 immovable properties while three luxury vehicles were found at the residence of accused Chauhan.

Various incriminating documents and cash worth Rs 61.5 lakh were also recovered from other accused people which included cash worth Rs 47 lakh from the residence of assistant development commissioner Rekha Nair, he said.

The CBI also found cash worth around Rs 60 lakh during a joint surprise check on the SEEPZ, officials in the know of the developments said.

The central probe agency had registered the case on Tuesday against nine people, including seven public servants and two private persons (middlemen), on allegations that Chauhan and other officers were indulging in “collusive corruption”.

"It was also alleged that a private person (middleman) has been collecting bribes on behalf of officers of SEEPZ-SEZ. Cash around Rs 60 lakh, so collected by him was allegedly kept in his office at SEEPZ Andheri campus, in bags containing envelopes with the amount of the bribe, names of bribe givers and officers for whom the bribe was meant, written on those envelopes,” he said.

The spokesperson said the middleman collected a bribe of Rs 15 lakh from another person on December 12 which he had allegedly handed over to accused JDC who kept Rs 7 lakh for himself and distributed a bribe of Rs 8 lakh amongst officers at SEEPZ of which Rs 4 lakh was recovered during the searches.

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