Two CGST officers, middleman held for taking 1.25L bribe

Ahmedabad, Oct 10, 2024

Two central GST (Goods and Service Tax) officers and a middleman were arrested, allegedly, for accepting Rs 1.25 lakh as bribe from a bullion trader in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

The accused individuals were identified as CGST audit superintendent Mohammad Rizwan Shaikh, CGST inspector Kuldip Kushwah and a middleman named Bhaumik Soni, an ACB release said on Thursday.

Shaikh, a Class II officer, recently issued a notice to the owner of a bullion trading firm in the city, seeking to audit their accounts from July 2017 to March 2023. As part of the process, Kushwah, a Class III officer, visited the firm's office on CG Road and asked the owner to visit the CGST office with all the required documents for the audit.

After going through the papers submitted by the bullion trader, both officers told the trader that he would have to pay Rs 35 lakh as penalty for some errors in the accounts, the release said. Later, the accused individuals allegedly demanded Rs 1.25 lakh as bribe from the trader to reduce the penalty amount, it said.

After receiving a complaint from the trader, the ACB laid a trap at his office on Wednesday and nabbed Soni accepting Rs 1.25 lakh in cash at the behest of the two officers, who were also caught from other locations later.

[The Times of India]