CBI arrests CGST commissioner, six others in Uttar Pradesh
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Lucknow: A CBI team on Saturday arrested a Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) commissioner from Kanpur along with six others in a bribery case, officials said.
The commissioner named Sansar Chand is accused of taking bribes from businessmen on a monthly and quarterly basis.
Police said other than the accused official, some inspectors and a group of private persons used to exert pressure on some institutions and businessmen and fleece them for money.
In its report, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that others who operated with Sansar Chand included Ajay Srivastava, Aman Shah, Rajiv Singh Chandel -- all three from Kanpur, and Amit Awasthi (from Rohini, Delhi), Aman Jain (Shivaji Park, Delhi) and Chandra Prakash (Punjabi Bagh, Delhi).
Wife of the arrested official Avinash Kaur has also been made an accused by the CBI. The agency has also accused the CGST commissioner of accepting highly expensive items, electronic goods at his Delhi residence from businessmen.
A source informed IANS that apparently the complaint was filed by a detergent manufacturer who was being asked to pay Rs 2 lakh per month to the commissioner.
Sansar Chand, a 1986 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, resides in the Customs Colony in Gujaini area of Kanpur. He was arrested from Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh while the others were arrested from the union capital. The CBI has also arrested office staff Saurabh Pandey and a private operator Manish Sharma in the case.
The CBI has alleged that Chand and other officials were part of organised and systematic collection of illegal gratification.
The excise officials contacted various people through middleman Awasthi for extorting illegal gratification.
These payments pertained to either monthly or quarterly payments as protection money for omission of action by the Central Excise Department on such private parties, the CBI said.
The money was collected by public servants and were transferred systematically through hawala channel to Delhi through Aman Jain.
In certain instances, the bribe would be in form of items like "mobiles, refrigerators and expensive TVs".
The probe agency has booked them under the charges of criminal conspiracy of Indian Penal Code and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.
