Angadia extortion case: Assistant GST commissioner held; sent to four days of police custody

An assistant GST commissioner held in angadia extortion case was given four days of police custody, Ashutosh Mishra brother-in-law of DCP Saurabh Tripathi was arrested from Basti in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday and brought to the city, he was arrested for allegedly receiving extortion money.

While seeking Mishra's custody who is an assistant GST (Goods and Services Tax) commissioner with Sales Tax department, the crime branch claimed that he had received Rs. 5 lakh extortion money which was sent from Mumbai via Angadia. We want to recover the money for which Mishra needs to be taken to Lucknow, said a crime branch officer before the court.

We have got hold of some digital evidence, while some chats seems to have been deleted said a crime branch officer, while Mishra's advocate claimed that Mishra was never in touch with the DCP following the registration of offence. Following the hearing, the court granted four days of custody to assistant GST commissioner.

An offence of robbery and extortion was registered on February 18 on the complaint of Angadia association which claimed that the DCP had demanded Rs. 10 lakh per month to "allow" them to run their business. They also alleged that, three officers from L T Marg police station had extorted Rs.18 to Rs.20 lakh from few angadias in the first week of December after threatening to book them or tip the Incom Tax (IT) department about their illegal activities.

In the case the police had arrested three officers from the L T Marg police station along with Pappu Gaud, 27 who works as a house help at Tripathi's home in Lucknow where his parents live. Gaud was arrested for allegedly receiving the money as his number was given to the angadia who sent the money to Lucknow. The police are now claiming that Mishra was using Gaud's phone.

Since the registration of offence Tripathi had been absent from the duty and remained untraceable, he was suspended by the state government for remaining absent and not performing duty.