5 GST officials booked for demanding Rs. 5 crore bribe from a Ghaziabad-based businessman
Ghaziabad, January 22, 2024
The officials, who have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, were posted in the DGGI Gurugram office.
Ghaziabad police Saturday registered an FIR against five officials of the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) for allegedly demanding a Rs. 5 crore bribe from a Ghaziabad-based businessman.
The officials, who have been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, were posted in the DGGI Gurugram office.
ACP Kavinagar Abhishek Srivastava said that the matter is being investigated and the statement of the plaintiff is yet to be recorded and legal action will be taken as per the evidence.
Complainant Arun Kumar Som, director of SKS Electricals, said that his company office in Ghaziabad, was raided by the GST team on July 5, 2022, under alleged allegations of violating GST rules. One of the directors was arrested without any warrant.
Som further alleged that the officials had asked for a bribe of Rs. 5 crore to ‘settle’ the matter and threatened to send him to jail in case of ‘non-payment’. He alleged that he paid Rs. 2.35 crore over the month ‘out of fear’, but the officers kept asking for more money saying that ‘the money will be distributed among the top officials’.
Som, 55, who is a resident of Bulandshahr road industrial area in Ghaziabad, then approached the police and submitted a complaint, but no FIR was registered. He filed an application in the Police Commissionerate office also, and due to no action, he approached the court under CrPC 156 (3), seeking registration of FIR against the GST officials.
Now, the Ghaziabad police has registered an FIR after the court order, under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
According to the complaint, “During the raid, they took away all the company’s computers, hard disks etc. and arrested company director Prem Singh, who got bail after two months. I visited the DGGI’s Gurugram office several times, but they kept talking about fixing the money and threw away the company documents. When I showed my inability to give five crores, they said that you give one crore adding that ‘I am not taking this money alone, but it will be distributed among all the officers up to the top.’ Fearing threat, I spoke to my colleagues and arranged for Rs 50 lakh and went to Bengali Market in Delhi on 27.07.2022 to pay the money.”
“…But as soon as they received the money, they started calling again asking for Rs 4.5 crore more and also threatened to send me to jail. I was scared of going to jail and social disgrace, so I gave one crore rupees in front of DGGI Gurugram office on 4.08.2022 and Rs 75 lakh on 12.08.2022 at NSC Club, Pragati Maidan in Delhi,” the complainant further said.
In January 2023, Arun Kumar Som again recieved a call from another officer who mentioned that he is the new investigating officer in the case and allegedly demanded an additional Rs 50 lakh. “I somehow arranged for Rs 10 lakh and gave it to him, but he kept threatening that- you don’t know me, I will ruin your life. After this I filed a complaint with the police, but they did not take any action,” he added.
[The Indian Express]
