A GST official in Maharashtra’s Mumbai was booked by the CBI after he allegedly took a bribe from a jailed gold dealer and absconded with the money, officials said on Friday.

According to reports, the accused GST official, Dhirendra Kumar, who is posted as the Superintendent of Anti-Eviction Wing of Central GST, along with two others— Amrutlal Shankhala and Baban—were booked by the Anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), for allegedly absonding with Rs 25 lakh in bribe money.

They said that on April 20, one Jitendra Lunawat—a Mumbai-based businessman—had filed a complaint with the CBI on behalf of his friend Arpit Jagetia, who had reportedly been taken into custody by Central GST officials for questioning.

Lunawat in his complaint that the accused GST official, Dhirendra Kumar, allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 1 crore from Jagetia and harassed the gold dealer in custody.

The Central GST had registered a case against Jagetia—a gold dealer—in connection with alleged irregularities in transactions between Shree Bullion and other companies in the bullion market.

According to the FIR which was filed by the CBI based on Lunawat’s complaint, Dhirendra Kumar forcibly took Jagetia into custody from Sarafa Bazar in the Kalba Devi area on April 20 and then allegedly harassed him in custody while also threatening to put him behind bars in a fake case if he did not pay a bribe of Rs 1 crore.

As per the FIR, Lunawat said that Jagetia called him after he was let off by the GST officials and narrated the entire incident to his friend. Lunawat claimed that in a bid to help his friend, he met with the accused GST official and managed to negotiate the bribe amount to Rs 25 lakhs from the earlier Rs 1 crore demanded by Kumar.

Luckily, Lunawat recorded the entire phone conversation and later used it as supporting evidence to his complaint.

The businessman then arrived at the the Central GST office in Churchgate with Rs 25 lakh in cash to free his friend, however, before he could enter the GST office,  the bag containing the bribe amount was allegedly snatched by some random bike-borne man, who later turned out to be Amrutlal Shankhala, as revealed by nearby security camera footage.

A CBI official said that during investigation, it was revealed that Shankala, who owns a small-time jewelry shop in Antop Hill, was a close associate of the prime accused, Dhirendra Kumar.

The official said that another accused, Baban, who worked at Shankala’s shop, was also absconding along with Dhirendra Kumar and Shankala, adding that a manhunt has been launched to nab all three accused.

Environmental watchdog  National Green Tribunal (NGT) has slapped a hefty Rs 4,000 crore fine on state of Bihar for its failure to manage solid and liquid waste in a scientific manner.

An NGT bench comprising of chairperson Justice A K Goel, Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi along with experts Afroz Ahmad and A Senthil Vel, imposed Rs 4,000 crore environmental compensation on Bihar and directed the state to deposit the fine in a ring-fenced account within two months.

The said amount was to be operated according to the chief secretary’s directions only for waste management in the state of Bihar, the bench said.

The NGT bench said the fine has been imposed on the “polluter pays principle” for Bihar’s failure to scientifically manage the liquid and solid waste in violation of the mandate of law, particularly judgments of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal, adding that the amount will be utilized for setting up of setting up solid waste processing facilities, remediation of legacy waste and setting up of sewage treatment plants, and faecal sludge and septage treatment plants so there remains no gap.

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The green tribunal bench noted that Bihar has a legacy waste of over 11.74 lakh metric tonnes as well as unprocessed urban waste of 4072 metric tonnes per day and the gap in liquid waste generation and treatment was 2,193 million litres per day.

The bench urged the state to find better alternatives to utilize the wet waste for composting and explore appropriate locations for the same, adding that the scale of expenditure for sewage treatment plants may be reviewed in the light of realistic expenses involved in decentralized/traditional systems or otherwise.

Bihar capital Patna along with six other cities— Darbhanga, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Chhapra and Hajipur— are ranked among the 50 most polluted cities in the world, as per an IQAir report.

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah is has called off all his campaign programmes for the BJP in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections in wake of the violent protests that have ripped through Manipur since May 3.

Reports quoting sources said that Shah, who is monitoring Manipur situation closely, has cancelled all his poll meetings and held multiple meetings via video link with relevant authorities in connection with the Manipur clashes on Thursday.

They said that the Home Minister, who is likely to hold more meetings with Manipur authorities to monitor the efforts made to restore peace and normalcy in the state, spoke to the chief ministers of northeastern states on the law and order situation.

The sources said that Amit Shah had a late night meeting with Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and other top officials of the state on Thursday, adding that earlier in the day, the Union Home Minister held meetings via video link with the Chief Ministers of Manipur and neighbouring states, including Assam, Nagaland, and Mizoram.

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As per the sources, it was being speculated that Amit Shah might visit Manipur in wake of the clashes but the proposal was turned down by top BJP leaders.

Violent demonstrations erupted in Torbung area of Churachandpur district on Wednesday during a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ called by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) to protest the demand of non-tribal Meiteis, who dominate the Imphal Valley, for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

As per reports, thousands hit the streets and participated in the solidarity march. However, the protests turned violent as clashes erupted between tribals and non-tribals in the area, and soon spread to other districts.

Following the clashes, the Indian Army was called in to quell the raging violence even as the state governor authorized shoot-at-sight orders subject to extreme circumstances.

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