Customs fraud nabbed after two-decade run in Noida

The CBI has arrested a fugitive wanted in connection with an alleged fraud in claiming duty drawback from the Customs department, ending his nearly 22-year run from the law, officials said Thursday.

Sarit Vij, a partner in the firm PS International, which filed a false duty drawback in the Customs department for a claim of Rs 19 lakh in the 1990s, was living under an assumed identity in Noida.

He had changed PAN, Aadhaar card and Passport to escape the law.

In 1999, the CBI registered a case against a Customs official posted at Inland Container Depot (ICD), Tughlakabad, Delhi, and a few others, for allegedly cheating the department of around Rs 58 lakh.

The investigation exposed the alleged role of Vij, chargesheeted him in 2003.

''During trial proceeding the accused Sarit Vij did not appear before the Court ever after filing of chargesheet in the year 2003. Further, persistent and sustained efforts were made to trace the accused during the course of Trial, however, he remained untraceable,'' a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

Vij was declared a Proclaimed Offender by the court on January 30, 2004, and the agency announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for information leading to his arrest.

He was apprehended on Wednesday at his Noida residence, the spokesperson said.

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