New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here Monday sent a central excise official and a middleman, arrested in a corruption case, to one-day CBI custody.

Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh allowed the agency custody of excise Superintendent Lallan Ojha and middleman Hemant Gandhi till Jan 17 after it submitted that the two are required for further interrogation as fresh facts in the case have surfaced.

“I have seen further progress in the investigation. In my view, one-day police remand of accused Lallan Ojha as well as Hemant Gandhi is justified for confronting them regarding the facts revealed during further investigation,” the judge said.

Central Excise Commissioner A.K. Srivastava, Ojha and Gandhi were involved in allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs.60 lakh from mobile phone importers.

The court Jan 10 had sent Ojha and Gandhi to judicial custody. It had dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Srivastava Jan 13. The commissioner was arrested the same day and is at present in judicial custody while admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

According to the CBI, Ojha Dec 28, along with a team of central excise officials, conducted a surprise raid at the warehouse of Dilip Aggarwal and Anand Aggarwal and negotiated a deal for illegal gratification.

The CBI recovered a cheque of Rs.20 lakh and currency notes along with other evidence.

The probe agency booked the accused under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.