Kanpur GST Commissioner, eight others arrested by CBI for allegedly running bribery racket

In a shocking development, the CBI has arrested a Goods and Services Tax commissioner from Kanpur and eight others, including three officials, for allegedly running a bribery racket in the department, news agency PTI reported. Quoting the agency sources, the report said the officials used to collect regular bribes from businessman and industrialists of Kanpur in return for providing them tax-related relief and protecting them notices of the department. The bribes were taken either in the form of cash or costly items like refrigerators, television sets, and mobile phones which were delivered to the commissioner’s residence in New Delhi, it said. Sansar Chand, a 1986-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, posted as Commissioner, two superintendents of the department (Ajay Shrivastav, R S Chandel), one personal staff (Saurabh Pandey) and five private individuals, including the owner of Shishu Soaps, were nabbed by the CBI in a late-night operation in Kanpur and Delhi, the report added while quoting CBI sources. In addition, the CBI has named Chand’s wife Avinash Kaur and Aman Shah, Superintendent, GST and Central Excise, Kanpur, in its FIR. However, they have not been arrested yet, PTI report said. Divulging details regarding their modus operandi, the CBI has alleged in its FIR that Chand along with his subordinates used to collect bribes on monthly and quarterly basis from industrialists and businessmen and added that the bribes in cash were routed through hawala channels to Delhi through Aman Janin and Chander Prakash, both residents of Delhi, who used to deliver it to Chand’s wife. The agency also alleged that the bribes were accepted on case-to-case basis for the assistance required by the private parties in the department. The agency has alleged that Chand in conspiracy with superintendents under him was systematically collecting bribes from the owners of Rimjhim Ispat Limited, SIR Pan masala, Sugandhi Private Limited among others but it has not named them as accused in the FIR. “Source information has revealed that Sansar Chand was in the habit of taking periodic updates from his superintendents…receipt of illegal gratification from various parties,” the FIR alleged. Sorce: Indian Express