Jawri Mal Bishnoi, a Joint Director of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the fourth-floor of his office when officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him on charges of accepting a bribe of INR 5 lakh. He was arrested on March 24, and the CBI then searched his office located on the fourth floor of the building. Bishnoi had reportedly demanded INR 9 lakh from a businessman seeking a no-objection certificate to export food cans. The document would have allowed the businessman to retrieve his bank guarantee of INR 50 lakh. A case of accidental death has been registered, and further investigations are being carried out. There have been protests and accusations against the CBI by a group of people at the civil hospital where Bishnoi was taken after the incident, and the CBI officers who carried out the search at his office will be questioned in connection with his death. DGFT is a government body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry responsible for implementing the country’s foreign trade policy.
