INDIA. Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested two Superintendents, and three Inspectors attached to the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Commissionerate at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh in a bribery case and recovered Rs 83.26 lakh in cash on Wednesday.
CBI had registered a case against a Superintendent, CGST, Jabalpur (MP), on the allegations that he demanded a bribe of Rs.1,00,00,000/-for issuing a release order of a factory that was raided and sealed last month.
On Wednesday, Superintendent Kapil Kamble, along with Soumen Goswami, Vikas Gupta, Pradeep Hazari and Virendr Jain, were apprehended were remanded to CBI custody by a Special Court in Jabalpur.
Kamble, who had demanded Rs 1 crore from the factory owner, reduced the amount to Rs 35 lakh after negotiation. The complainant factory owner handed over Rs. 25 lakh to Kamble and sought some more time to pay the remaining amount of Rs. 10 lakh. Later, the amount was reduced to Rs 07 lakh after further negotiation.
The CBI was notified by the complainant, and after setting up a trap, they arrested two superintendents and three inspectors for collecting bribes totaling Rs. 7 lakh. Then the searches were conducted at 07 locations, including the residential and office premises of the accused at Jabalpur, which led to the recovery of cash worth Rs. 83,26,800/-
Charge sheet against former IT Addl Commissioner
In another case, the CBI filed a charge sheet against Santosh Karnani, the then Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Range-I, Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Vivek Johri, the then Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax and a private person, in an ongoing investigation of a case.
CBI registered the case on October 12, 2022, against Santosh Karnani. Cased on the request of the Gujarat Government and further Notification from the Central Government, the CBI had taken over the investigation of the case earlier registered by Ahmedabad City ACB Police Station, related to bribery of Rs.30 lakh.
The case dates back to an IT raid that the I-T investigation wing conducted at the B Safal Group headquarters in September 2021. Owner of the B Safal Group, Rupesh Brahmbhatt, complained to the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) that his home and office were searched for nearly seven days, during which time documents were taken by the raiding teams, and an evaluation memo was delivered to the I-T’s Central Circle Range-1 at the Aaykar Bhavan on Ashram Road.
Karnani repeatedly threatened to cause huge financial and business losses and demanded money to manipulate the appraisal report in order not to cause any damage, Brahmbhatt had told investigating agency.
When the team of ACB, Gujarat, went to Karnani’s office, he escaped by creating a ruckus during trap proceedings. Before running away, he handed over two mobile handsets to Johri. It was alleged that Johri had facilitated Karnani’s escape and disposed of the mobile handsets by throwing them same in the Sabarmati River.
Subsequently, the CBI retrieved the mobiles from the riverfront with the help of divers and other agencies using diving equipment and a Remotely Operated Vehicle equipped with SONAR technology. Karnani and Johri, who were arrested subsequently, are now in judicial custody.
Also Read: CBI Arrests Pune’s Additional Divisional Commissioner in Connection with a Bribery Case
