Environment ministry official arrested for taking Rs 7 lakh bribe

The CBI on Thursday recovered over Rs 1 crore in cash from three properties of an Environment Ministry official, who was arrested along with a middleman for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 7 lakh for pushing clearance for a cement firm.

Deputy director in the ministry Neeraj Kumar Khatri was arrested on late Wednesday night while allegedly accepting bribe from a middleman Chinmaya Shri Chandan for arranging mining clearance for a Odisha-based-firm Chariot Group, CBI sources said.