Hyderabad: Commercial Tax officers threw bribe money from office window, arrested

Hyderabad: Believe it or not, two senior Commercial Taxes department officers hurled the bundles of cash from the window after Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths barged into their office to arrest them for accepting bribe.

Mohammed Wasif Azam, an assistant commercial tax officer and Mohammed Ashfaq, a junior commercial tax inspector at the office of Deputy Commissioner Commercial Taxes, Abids division, were caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday.

The duo allegedly demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs.40000 from complainant Ranjay Singh. The bribe was allegedly paid to avoid paying fine on the unbilled assignments and overlook the irregularities.

On noticing the ACB team, the junior commercial tax inspector took out the bribe amount from his pocket and tossed it from his office window. The entire bribe amount was later recovered by the officials.

An ACB officer said that the accused was sitting on the second floor of the building when the complainant handed over the money to him. When he noticed ACB team, he threw the money from the window.

The team quickly went downstairs and collected the cash.The duo was arrested and produced before a special court.

Anti- Corruption Bureau has appealed to the general public to call on toll-free number 1064 if any officer demands a bribe. The ACB assured that their identity will be concealed.