Mumbai | A special court here on Friday remanded an assistant director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in CBI custody till August 14, a day after he was arrested for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a Mumbai-based jeweller.

Special CBI judge S P Naik remanded Sandeep Singh Yadav, an assistant director of the ED, in the probe agency's custody till August 14.

The CBI on Thursday arrested Yadav for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a Mumbai-based bullion dealer by threatening to arrest his son in a money laundering case.

The court, after perusal of the first information report (FIR) and case diary, said there are reasonable grounds to believe at "this juncture the allegations are well founded".

According to the CBI, the ED had conducted searches at the premises of Vipul Thakkar, who runs a bullion company called V S Gold, on August 4 in connection with a money laundering case.

Yadav allegedly threatened to arrest Thakkar's son and demanded Rs 25 lakh. Following negotiations, the amount was reduced to Rs 20 lakh.

Thakkar later approached the CBI, and the agency found the allegations prima facie correct during its verification exercise.

"The verification of the complaint in the presence of independent witnesses, prima facie revealed criminal conspiracy hatched by Sandeep Singh, Assistant Director, Enforcement Directorate HQ, New Delhi, with unknown others to obtain undue advantage from the complainant of Rs 20 lakh by himself and through other persons from the complainant Vipul Thakkar for not arresting his son Nihar Thakkar in the matter being investigated by the ED," the CBI FIR said.

The Mumbai unit of the CBI caught Yadav, an officer from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), red-handed while accepting the bribe in Delhi, it said.

The probe agency informed the court that the investigation was at a crucial stage, and hence, his custody was required.

Yadav, through his lawyer, contended that he was falsely implicated in the case.

He claimed that no cash was found in his house.

Yadav submitted that he was ready to cooperate with the probe and give his voice sample, and hence, his custody was not required.