Jhansi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested five individuals, including a Deputy Commissioner of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) department, in Jhansi for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 70 lakh. The arrested officials have been identified as Deputy Commissioner Prabha Bhandari, Superintendents Anil Tiwari and Ajay Kumar Sharma, along with lawyer Naresh Kumar Gupta and businessman Raju Mangtani, the owner of a hardware store.
According to the CBI, the agency received confidential information that the officials had demanded Rs 1.5 crore from the hardware businessman to settle a tax-related matter. A trap was laid on Tuesday, and the Superintendents were allegedly caught red-handed accepting Rs 70 lakh as part of the bribe. Subsequently, all five accused were detained.
Following the arrests, the CBI conducted raids at the residential and official premises of the accused on Tuesday and Wednesday. The searches reportedly led to the recovery of Rs 1.70 crore in cash, silver bars, gold jewellery, and several property documents. The Deputy Commissioner, who was reportedly in Delhi at the time of the initial arrests, was summoned to Jhansi. The arrested individuals were medically examined and brought to Lucknow on transit remand for further investigation.
