In a significant move the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested five GST Officials including two Superintendents and three Inspectors, all of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), Jabalpur in a bribery case involving seven lakh.
As per a press release issued by the CBI, the arrested officers were identified as Superintendent Kapil Kamble; Superintendent Somen Goswami, Inspector Veerendra Jain, Inspector Vikas Gupta, and Inspector Pradeep Hazari.
All were at CGST in Jabalpur. CBI has registered a case on complaint against a Superintendent, CGST, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh on the allegations of demanding a bribe of one crore for issuing a release order of a factory. It was further alleged that the factory premises were earlier raided and sealed in May-2023 by said Superintendents and other officials of CGST, Jabalpur. After negotiation, the alleged bribe was reduced to Rs 35 lakh.
It has also been alleged that the complainant handed over Rs 25 lakh to the Superintendents and requested more time for the remaining amount of Rs 10 lakh. Later, the said accused reduced the bribe to Rs 7 lakh after further negotiation, reports said.
The CBI laid a trap and caught two Superintendents and three Inspectors while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 7 lakh from the Complainant.
Various searches were conducted at locations including at the residential and office premises of the accused in Jabalpur which led to recovery of cash of Rs 83 lakh (approximately).
All the five arrested accused will be produced today in the Court of Special Judge, CBI Cases, Jabalpur. The investigation is in process, the CBI said.
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