Two Hyderabad GST officials booked for taking bribe, threatening to impose tax

Hyderabad: The sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked criminal cases against two GST officers for allegedly harassing and accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakhs. According to the case details, they threatened to impose GST alleging irregularities in records.

The CBI registered cases against superintendent VD Anand Kumar and inspector Manish Sharma, both working at the Principal Commissionerate of Central Tax, GST Hyderabad Commissionerate.

The CBI was acting on a complaint that the accused harassed and extracted Rs 5 lakhs from the complainant.

How did the two GST officers harass the complainant?

When a scuffle broke out between the accused and Syed Feroz, the complainant from Saroor Nagar here, they approached the local police. However, the local police registered an FIR against the complainant as an accused along with four others.

Consequently, Syed Feroz was arrested on abduction charges and sent to judicial remand. Syed Feroz then filed a complaint with the CBI.

The investigation by the federal agency found that GST officials Anand Kumar and Manish Sharma demanded a bribe and even harassed the complainant, punishable under sections 120-B and 384 of IPC, 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in the year 2018).

It was alleged that the accused threatened to impose the GST (Goods & Services Tax) on the complainant against an alleged irregularity. Further, the complainant alleged that accused GST officers seized the iron scrap shop of the complainant’s private company and demanded and accepted Rs 5 lakhs on July 4. It was also alleged that the accused further demanded Rs 3 lakhs to open the seized premises.

The CBI conducted searches at two places in Hyderabad which led to the recovery of incriminating documents. The investigation is ongoing.