I-T inspector caught by CBI taking Rs 1 lakh bribe

GURUGRAM: The CBI arrested an income tax inspector for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from the owners of a petrol pump in Nuh district on Tuesday. The inspector is posted at the Udyog Vihar office of the I-T department.
A CBI spokesperson said a case was registered against the inspector under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, on the basis of the recording of a conversation between the complainant and the I-T officer.

The complainant, Ram Avtar Singla of Aman filling station (Hindustan Petroleum) in Nuh district, was informed by his lawyers that the inspector of income tax, Anup Singh, wanted to meet him at the Udyog Vihar I-T office. Singla was accompanied to the meeting by his son Aman Singla, in whose name the petrol pump is registered.

On February 26, Singla and his son went to meet Singh in his office on the eighth floor of the I-T building. They had a discussion about the tax owed by the petrol pump for the financial year 2013-14, Singla reported in his complaint. “During the meeting, inspector Anup Singh asked us to pay a bribe of Rs 1 lakh, instead of paying Rs 10 lakh in taxes,” Singla told CBI, saying the conversation was recorded on his son’s mobile phone, and later handed over to CBI. A preliminary verification of the recording was carried out by CBI after they secured a copy of it on Monday in Gurgaon. CBI asked Singla to concede to the I-T officer’s demands and arrange a meeting where he would pay the bribe amount. It was during this meeting that CBI officers caught the I-T officer red-handed, said the CBI spokesperson.

“Searches were conducted on Tuesday at the home and office of the accused, including at Mahipalpur extension in Delhi,” the CBI spokesperson said. The I-T officer will be produced in the designated court on Wednesday, the agency said.