Chandigarh: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 10 arrested suspended Chandigarh Civil Judge S S Bhardwaj, allegedly involved in a graft case, a day after his bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court.

CBI spokesman G Mohanty said that Bhardwaj was arrested from his relative's residence in Panchkula.

Police claimed that Bhardwaj surrendered before the CBI but Mohanty denied it.

"Any reports suggesting that Bhardwaj has surrendered are wrong," Mohanty said.

The Supreme Court on June 9 had dismissed an anticipatory bail plea of Bhardwaj, who escaped from his residence in May after CBI allegedly caught him accepting a bribe of Rs seven lakhs for himself and District and Sessions Judge, Jalandhar, R M Gupta who is already in judicial custody.

The CBI had laid a trap for the two following a complaint by a Kartarpur (Punjab) based medical practioner Gurvinder Singh Samra.

During Bhardwaj's one month in hiding, the CBI raided a number of places in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana to nab him.

Bhardwaj's lawyers had been maintaining in the court that he was not running away, but was only exploring all legal options available.

PTI