Probe ordered into Excise dept scam

The accused Dalbir Singh was entrusted with the task of depositing the cash collected through the department’s mobile wing in the Axis Bank,Patiala. According to the police,for three years,Dalbir siphoned off the cash and kept submitting fake receipts.

An Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner said it was the duty of senior officials to check the cash registers. “There is no denying the fact that due to lack of action against senior officials,the department has become a den of corruption. It is high time the government ordered an independent inquiry into the departmental scams,” he said.

Commissioner (Excise) A Venu Prasad said he had already ordered a high-level inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate into the scam. He,however,refused to comment on action taken in the previous scams. “We will not spare anyone,” he warned.

Director (Enforcement) K V S Sidhu said the inquiry was on and once they found the guilty officers,their “accountability will be fixed” and strict action would be recommended. “We have a shortage of staff,but that does not mean we will accept corruption,” he asserted.