4 GST officials held for conducting fake raid, extorting Rs 1.5 crore from Bengaluru businessman
Bengaluru, September 12, 2024
The Karnataka Central Crime Branch officers said all the accused are associated with the Director General of GST intelligence, Bengaluru zonal unit (Central GST).
In a complaint filed by Keshav Tak, who runs Mexo Solutions Private Limited in Jeevan Bhimanagar, he alleged that he was confined and extorted by the GST officials between August 30 and September 1. (File Photo)In a complaint filed by Keshav Tak, who runs Mexo Solutions Private Limited in Jeevan Bhimanagar, he alleged that he was confined and extorted by the GST officials between August 30 and September 1. (File Photo)
Four officials of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) department were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting and extorting Rs 1.5 crore cash from a businessman in Bengaluru.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) officers on Wednesday announced the arrests of Abhishek, Superintendent of Central Tax, south commissionerate, Bengaluru zone, Manoj Saini and Nagesh Babu, senior intelligence officers of Bengaluru zone, and Sonali Sahay, intelligence officer of Bengaluru.
All of them belong to the Director General of GST intelligence, Bengaluru zonal unit (Central GST), the CCB said.
In a complaint filed by Keshav Tak, who runs Mexo Solutions Private Limited in Jeevan Bhimanagar, he alleged that he was confined and extorted by the GST officials between August 30 and September 1.
According to the complaint, the accused claimed to be officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and GST and “raided” his residence. Later, they took Tak and his associates Pavan Tak, Mukesh Jain and Rakesh Chandani in two cars to the office of Mexo solutions where they seized their mobile phones and assaulted them.
Keshav Tak in his complaint said, “We were kept in separate rooms. They asked me to pay them money and I called Rakesh Jain (another associate) and asked for Rs 3 crore. The accused then took us to various places. Rakesh could not arrange the full money but by September 1, he managed to arrange Rs 1.5 crore. Subsequently, we were released to collect the money on their behalf and later, they left all the documents in our office.”
On September 2 and 3, Keshav Tak checked the background of the officials. Later, he filed a police complaint with the Byappanahalli police and during the investigation, it was revealed that the officials indeed worked with the GST but the raid was conducted without any permission. In fact, the complainants were held illegally for two days.
The CCB police produced the accused before the magistrate and got their custody for 10 days. “We have not recovered any money so far but are going through the transactions that are suspicious,” said a CCB officer. The officer added that 32 phones, two laptops, and 50 cheque books have been seized from the accused.
[The Indian Express]
