New Delhi [India], October 17 (ANI): The Rouse Avenue Court has remanded Harish Tanwar, a deputy director in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), to three days of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody in a corruption case involving an alleged demand for a bribe of Rs 10 crore from the complainant.
Special Judge (CBI) Munish Markan granted three days of custody to the CBI to further investigate the case. The court also extended the custody of advocate Bharat Sharma by one day.
Sharma was produced before the court after completing two days of CBI custody. Another accused, Aryan Sharma, was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody on October 14.
Tanwar was arrested from Chennai on October 14 and was brought to Delhi on transit remand. He was produced before the Rouse Avenue court on Friday.
While seeking remand of Harish Tanwar, the CBI submitted that the accused has been arrested from Chennai and he is required to be interrogated and confronted with the co-accused. He is required to be confronted with the material collected during the investigation.
According to the CBI, the complainant, Gopal Shivram Delvi, lodged a complaint on October 12, 2026, alleging that Harish Tanwar, an investigating officer (IO) with the SFIO in Chennai, had demanded Rs 10 crore from him. The complainant was allegedly approached repeatedly by several persons in connection with the demand.
It was further alleged that the complainant received a notice from the SFIO directing him to join the investigation in Chennai. He was allegedly threatened by Tanwar and pressured to agree to the demands raised by Akash Gupta, Romi and Kavita Patil. The complaint also alleged the involvement of Tanwar’s senior.
The complainant was reportedly informed that an advocate, Shivam Srivastava, had also contacted him. All the accused persons allegedly claimed to be acting at the instance of one individual referred to as ‘Bhaiya’.
It is alleged that accused Bharat Sharma contacted Delvi and eventually, the amount was negotiated at Rs 1 crore, and the complainant was asked to give a token of Rs 25 lakhs
After verification of the complaint, the CBI registered a case and laid a trap in the presence of two independent witnesses. During the operation, Rs 20 lakh was delivered to Bharat Sharma, which was allegedly received on his behalf by accused Aryan Sharma.
Public Prosecutor for the CBI had submitted that custodial interrogation of both the accused is required to ascertain the identity of public servants and other individuals involved and to unearth the larger conspiracy and the role and involvement of each of the accused persons.
On the other hand, counsel for the accused had strongly opposed the application for police remand, submitting that the complaint appears to have been prepared by the CBI officials and the CBI conducted the raid in the night of 13.10.2026 and accused Aryan Sharma is a 19-year-old boy studying in B.Com (final year).
It was submitted that he has nothing to do with the allegations and no custodial interrogation is required as no allegations of commission of any crime have been levelled against him.
The CBI registered the instant case against an officer of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Chennai, and an Advocate along with others on the allegations that they had demanded undue advantage of Rs. 1 Crore from the complainant for allegedly favouring him in an investigation being conducted by SFIO related to the DHFL scam.
During the course of searches conducted at the premises of the Public Servant and the Advocate, incriminating material related to the case has been recovered. (ANI)