NEW DELHI: The
CBI has arrested a commissioner of goods and services tax (GST) department from Kanpur and eight others, including three officials, busting an alleged bribery racket in the department.
They collected regular bribes from the businessmen of Kanpur for providing them relief from tax-related issues and notices of the department, sources said.
The accused persons reportedly collected bribes on a monthly or weekly basis as part of the racket. The illegal gratification was collected either in form of cash or costly gadgets like refrigerators, televisions, and mobile phones which were delivered to the commissioner's residence in New Delhi.
CBI arrested 1986-batch Indian
Revenue Service officer posted as commissioner,
Sansar Chand, two superintendents of the department,
Ajay Shrivastav and R S Chandel; one personal staff,
Saurabh Pandey and five private persons, including the owner of a firm called Shishu Soaps.
The agency has named wife of Sansar Chand Avinash Kaur and Aman Shah, superintendent, GST and central excise, Kanpur in its FIR but they have not been arrested yet, the sources said.
Officials say the bribes in cash were routed through hawala channels to Delhi and were accepted on case-to-case basis. "Sansar Chand was in the habit of taking periodic updates from his superintendents... receipt of illegal gratification from various parties," the FIR alleged.
