CBI books CGST inspector for demanding Rs 75,000 bribe from Raipur chemist

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A Central Goods and Services Tax inspector was booked by the CBI for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 75,000 from a chemist shop owner in Raipur to withdraw a show cause notice issued to him. In a written complaint on Thursday, chemist Rahul Verma, who runs a medical shop in the name Verma Medical in Amapara, Raipur, alleged that Soumya Ranjan Mallik, inspector, CGST, Range-Il, Division-3, Civil Lines, Raipur Chhattisgarh, and Elongka Minj, Superintendent of CGST, demanded a bribe amount of Rs 75,000.

The bribe was demanded to settle the matter of notice issued to him. The accused allegedly told Verma that if he agreed to pay the bribe, no show cause notice would be issued, otherwise he would have to pay the entire amount of Rs 1,73,000 to the government. The complainant said he bargained with the bribe seeker and got the amount reduced to Rs 60,000. After verification of his complaint, the CBI filed a case against the CGST inspector.

The Raipur incident comes close to the federal agency apprehending K. P. Rajan, Superintendent of CGST, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, for demanding and accepting Rs 15,000 bribe from a complainant. The CBI registered a case against the accused Superintendent on allegations that he demanded undue advantage of Rs 15,000 from Sitaram Choudhary, a representative of an industrial unit, for unblocking/releasing Input Tax Credit of GST. The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused Superintendent while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 from the complainant. Searches were launched soon after at the residential and official premises of the accused.