New Delhi, Jun 16 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Thursday that it has arrested Basant Bansal and Pankaj Bansal, key managerial persons of Gurugram-based realty company M3M Group, in connection with a bribery case involving a judge.

Both of them were presented before the designated PMLA court in Panchkula, Haryana, which remanded them to five-day ED custody.

The ED initiated the investigation based on an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Panchkula. According to the FIR, reliable information was received that Sudhir Parmer, who was serving as a special judge for CBI and ED cases in Panchkula at the time, showed favoritism towards the accused individuals.

The accused persons were identified as Roop Kumar Bansal and his brother Basant Bansal, the owners of M3M Group, and Lalit Goyal, the owner of IREO Group.

Sudhir Parmar allegedly extended undue advantages to them for favourable treatment in the criminal cases related to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and other CBI cases pending against them in his court.

The FIR also mentioned instances of grave misconduct, abuse of official position, and the demand/acceptance of undue advantage or bribes from the accused persons in cases pending in Parmar's court.

The ED gathered incriminating evidence, such as bank statements and a money trail, regarding the allegations mentioned in the FIR before making the arrests.