Ministry of Home Affairs has suspended a superintendent of police rank officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on charges of corruption, sources said on Tuesday.
The officer has been identified as Vishal Garg, who is deputed at the Delhi headquarters of the NIA. This is the second time since 2019 that Garg was placed under suspension on charges of corruption.
In 2019, Garg along with two other NIA officials– Nishant and Mithilesh– was placed under suspension for allegedly demanding Rs 2 crore from a Delhi-based businessman for not naming him in a terrorism funding case involving Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. Nishant and Mithilesh were then posted with NIA’s intelligence and operations wing.
In 2020, the MHA reinstated Garg and gave a clean chit to two juniors. Garg was then transferred to New Delhi from Lucknow and made incharge of training with “immediate effect”.
As per sources, the fresh suspension of Garg is linked to another charge of corruption.
The MHA’s action followed an examination of Garg’s probe report. MHA is the cadre controlling authority for IPS and NIA officers.
Garg was earlier the chief investigation officer of the 2007 Samjhauta and Ajmer blast cases that resulted in the acquittals of Swami Assemanand and others. The train blast in February 2007 had led to the death of 68 people, mostly Pakistanis.
Garg, from the Border Security Force, was among the first officers to be permanently inducted in the NIA, which was set up in the aftermath of the 26/11 attack.