Bengaluru Airport Customs SP found having disproportionate assets by CBI

BENGALURU: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the Kempegowda International Airport Customs Superintendent and found disproportionate assets with the officer who was recently caught on bribery charges. According to CBI, the accused officer A M Shafiulla worked as Customs superintendent in KIA.

The CBI said that Rs 27.10 lakh in disproportionate assets have been found which is 97.34% increase than his known source of income. Raichur native officer Shafiulla came on the radar of the CBI after he demanded a bribe of Rs 30,000 from a Bengaluru-based businessman to release  some imported goods. A complaint was filed on March 1 and Shafiulla was suspended.

According to CBI, Shafiulla, 1992 batch central excise inspector, was promoted as SP over time. The information revealed that the officer was involved in corrupt activities, especially after he got promotion as SP.

Between 2009 and 2018, Shafiulla has got salary around Rs 27.10 lakh but the expenditure and other assets he possessed valued Rs 54.94 lakh.

S Muthukrishnan, Proprietor of B S Systems, located at Thippasandra, on March 1, filed a complaint with the CBI. Muthukrishnan had bought electronic goods from Bangkok. Shafiulla allegedly had demanded gratification of Rs 30,000 to release his goods.

The complainant, on the pretext of not having money to pay him and getting it from his house and friends, came out of the airport and informed the CBI office. Later, he filed a complaint.

This is not the first time that the Customs officials were caught on bribery charges. In 2016, five superintendents of Customs along with three touts were caught collecting bribes for clearing files for release of imported goods, at the import section terminals.

In 2015, a superintendent of Customs was caught while accepting a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh from an exporter for clearing a cargo of silk scarfs meant for export to a firm in Malaysia.