HYDERABAD:
CBI sleuths have alleged that arrested assistant commissioner of Goods and Services Tax, Bollineni Gandhi, produced fake Covid-19 reports of family members to escape being investigated in a disproportionate assets case.
On Wednesday, Gandhi was produced in a CBI court and remanded in judicial custody at Chanchalaguda jail.
The top investigation agency had on July 8, 2019, registered a case against Gandhi and his wife, alleging that they had accumulated assets worth Rs 3.8 crore illegally. In the past Gandhi had worked in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
CBI in a note said, “During investigation, we have issued notices under the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code. However, the accused did not cooperate with the investigation and also did not furnish requisite information or documents pertaining to the case.”
CBI further alleged that the accused had influenced witnesses and dissuaded them from joining the investigation and from disclosing relevant facts of the case. “The accused had also furnished false and fabricated Covid-19 positive reports in the name of his family members,” CBI alleged.
Gandhi has been remanded in judicial custody till May 7.
The arrested
GST official served in ED for more than seven years and handled high profile money laundering cases. He is also facing a CBI case in another scandal. He along with deputy commissioner of service tax evasion, Chilaka Sudha Rani, are named as accused in a Rs 5 crore bribery case.