Ajit Karn
According to sources on Tuesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs has suspended a superintendent-level officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on allegations of corruption.
The officer has been identified as Vishal Garg, who is assigned to the NIA’s Delhi office.
This is the second time since 2019 that NIA Officer Garg has been suspended on corruption allegations.
Garg was suspended in 2019 along with two other NIA officials, Nishant and Mithilesh, for allegedly demanding Rs 2 crore from a Delhi-based businessman for not naming him in a terrorism financing case involving Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. Nishant and Mithilesh were subsequently assigned to the intelligence and operations division of the NIA.
In 2020, the MHA reinstated Garg and gave two juniors a clear slate. Garg was then transferred from Lucknow to New Delhi and placed in command of training “effective immediately.”
According to sources, Garg’s latest suspension is related to an additional corruption allegation.
The MHA’s action followed a review of Garg’s investigation report. IPS and NIA officers are governed by the MHA’s cadre control.
Swami Assemanand and others were acquitted in the 2007 Samjhauta and Ajmer blast cases in which Garg was the principal investigating officer. The train explosion in February 2007 killed 68 individuals, the majority of whom were Pakistanis.
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Garg, a member of the Border Security Force, was among the first officers permanently inducted into the NIA, which was established in response to the 26/11 terrorist attack.
