Gujarat: Two GST officers, peon booked for ‘taking bribe’

Based on a complaint filed by a dealer of a known snacks brand in Gujarat, ACB registered a case against Rajeevkumar Yadav, Gaurav Arora and Ravi Joshi. ACB said that Yadav and Arora are GST inspectors — residents of Limdi town of Surendranagar district and Surendranagar town respectively. Joshi, a peon at the Central GST office, is a resident of Wadhwan town in Surendranagar district.

Acting on the complaint, a team led by ACB Police Inspector ZG Chaunah laid a trap in the Central GST office in Surendranagar. They detained Yadav and Joshi, after Yadav told the complainant over the phone to give Rs 75,000 cash to the peon who accepted the bribe amount.

“We received a complaint from the dealer this morning that the two inspectors had demanded Rs 75,000 bribe from him. Acting on his complaint, we laid a trap and detained two accused. We are in the process of completing the formality of arresting them,” Chauhan told The Indian Express.

The ACB said that the two inspectors had demanded Rs 5 lakh from the dealer for not initiating action against him after the dealer had changed his godown and the GST number in the godown’s signboard was not visible. After negotiations, the two inspectors agreed to not take any action against the dealer if he paid them Rs 75,000 cash.

“Arora proceeded on leave this morning and therefore, was not present in the office when the trap was laid. He is on the run and efforts are on to arrest him,” a top officer of ACB said.