Mumbai: In a major swoop, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked six officials of Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Mumbai for illegally confining a businessman for 18 hours and negotiating a Rs 60 lakh bribe.
The CGST officials booked by the CBI include an Additional Commissioner, a Joint Commissioner, and four Superintendents.
Others include a Chartered Accountant (CA) and a private person, who seems to have been the middleman in the affair.
In the case, so far, three persons have been arrested including one Superintendent, CA and the middleman.
More arrests have not been ruled out.
According to CBI officials, the arrested official was deputed as Superintendent CGST (Anti-Evasion) at Mumbai West Commissionerate.
“They were arrested while accepting a part bribe amount of Rs. 20 lakh, out of the negotiated undue advantage of Rs 60 lakh demanded as bribe. An amount of Rs 30 lakh of the total bribe amount was allegedly paid earlier through Hawala,” CBI officials said on Sunday.
The CBI has registered a case on a complaint against 8 accused including 6 officers of CGST, Mumbai comprising an Additional Commissioner, a Joint Commissioner, 4 Superintendents and 2 private persons including a Chartered Accountant on allegations of bribery.
It was alleged that when the complainant visited CGST Office, Santacruz in the evening of 4 September, he was kept confined in the office for the whole night and released after about 18 hours, on September 5.
During the complainant's confinement, the Superintendent (Anti-Evasion) demanded Rs 80 lakh as a bribe for 'not arresting him'. Subsequently, this demand was reduced to Rs 60 lakhs.
Thereafter, three other colleagues of the Superintendent - all Superintendents of CGST also joined him in pressurising the complainant, including through the repeated use of force and hurling abuses.
The complainant was, allegedly, made to call his cousin while in confinement, to convey the bribe demand by the CGST officers. In return, he was asked to tell his cousin that the CGST officers would favour him (the complainant) in the ongoing probe and not arrest him.
“The cousin of the complainant subsequently contacted an accused CA who further contacted other accused private persons and senior CGST officers including accused JC, CGST. Both accused CA and other accused private persons visited the CGST office during the intervening night and negotiated the bribe with CGST officials,” officials said.
“The bribe demand was finalized for an amount of Rs 60 lakhs to be delivered to CGST officers through accused CA. Out of a negotiated bribe of Rs 60 lakhs, Rs 30 lakhs was allegedly paid by cousin of the complainant through an Angadia. Only then was the complainant allowed to leave CGST office, the next day,” officials said.
The CBI laid a trap and caught accused CA red-handed while accepting an amount of Rs 20 lakh on behalf of CGST officers, out of the remaining bribe amount.
Further, controlled bribe delivery was done to another accused private person who was to further deliver the bribe to CGST officers through accused Superintendent CGST.
“During further trap proceedings, the accused Superintendent, who received the bribe, called the other accused private person to meet him near Oshiwara Police Station, Mumbai for collecting bribe and all of them were arrested,” the officials said.
The three accused were produced before a court, which granted CBI custody to the Superintendent and the CA till 10 September, while judicial custody to the private person.
“Searches were conducted at nine locations at the official and residential premises of accused persons in and around Mumbai which led to recovery of various incriminating documents,” the officials said.