Chandigarh, Oct. 30 -- The court of CBI special judge Bhawna Jain on Wednesday granted nine-day police custody of the co-accused, Krishanu Sharda, in the Rs.8-lakh corruption case involving Ropar range DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar. The accused, who acted as a middleman as per the CBI, will now be produced before the court on November 6. The judge said in the order granting custody that the CBI has laid hand on some material evidence such as 100 GB mobile data in the phone of accused Krishanu, apart from a diary from his residence, thereby suggesting of continuing pattern of facilitation and collection of illegal gratification by Krishanu in exchange of official favour(s) payment details and references, pointing towards vital dimensions of the conspiracy. "The interrogation of accused Krishanu appears to be necessary for fair and effective investigation of the case in hand to confront him with the extracted data of his mobile phone, apart from the entries in the diary allegedly recovered from his residence," said the court. The CBI had stated that preliminary examination of the extracted data has revealed extensive communication between the accused and various public servants as well as private individuals, suggesting thereby a continuing pattern of facilitation and collection of illegal gratification in exchange of official favours. Keeping in view the circumstances of the case, the application seeking police custody of the accused by the CBI cannot be assumed to be a malafide one and Kirshanu is liable to be interrogated while shifting his custody from judicial to that of police, added the court. Earlier, while seeking 12 days police custody of Krishanu, the CBI urged that during the course of probe, the mobile phone of the accused was seized and its forensic digital image was created in accordance with prescribed legal procedure. The CBI court on Wednesday allowed the application filed by defence counsel advocate Jarnail Singh for preservation of CCTV footage of the DIG office. "Since the CCTV footage of the office of the DIG, Ropar Range, DC Complex, Mohali, including the footage of the floor, corridor, the said office and of the entire DC Complex, Mohali, of October 16, 2025, is required to the accused applicant for his defence as pleaded in the application, the application is allowed and the CBI is directed to keep preserved the CCTV footage as per law under intimation to this court, to get produced at a later stage, if required," said the court....