In the first face-off with the Andhra Pradesh government after withdrawal of general consent, the Central Bureau of Investigation has accused the State government’s Anti-Corruption Bureau of using the inputs it had furnished seeking specific permission to proceed against a public servant.

The CBI said its Visakhapatnam unit received a written complaint from one K. Lokesh Babu on November 28, alleging a bribery demand by Mukku Kali Rajeswar, Superintendent, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), for not raising objections in the CGST returns filed by the complainant’s firm.

“Immediately on receipt of the written complaint, the CBI (Visakhapatnam) Superintendent of Police wrote a top secret letter addressed to the Principal Secretary (Home) of the Andhra Pradesh government and sent the letter by hand to the Principal Secretary through a Deputy SP rank officer of CBI,” said the agency.

In this letter, the agency requested the State government to issue a specific consent to the CBI to lay a trap. It also wanted the information to be kept confidential and not to be shared with any other party.

The SP also called on the Principal Secretary (Home) at her office in Velagapudy on November 29 and requested for early action in issuing the specific consent under Section 6 of the DSPE Act to enable the CBI to register the case and lay the trap, the agency said.

However, the State government allegedly did not issue the specific consent and instead shared the details with the State ACB.

The ACB laid a trap on November 30 evening against the accused Central government official by using the contents of the request letter.

“Further, State ACB also issued a press release as if the complainant had directly approached them,” said the CBI.