The Central Bureau of Investigationโs (CBI) probe against two Pune-based former senior officials of the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) has revealed they had taken a range of precautions to evade surveillance. The two are accused of attempting to obtain undue monetary advantage of Rs1 crore from a complainant in lieu of favours and not harassing his firm in course of a GST proceeding underway against it.
๐๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
The duo had allegedly asked the complainant to use a lesser-known American encrypted calling-messaging app, a new phone with a new SIM card and to avoid verbally mentioning the sum demanded, CBI sources said. An accused had allegedly shown an initial demand of Rs50 lakh on a calculator to the complainant, instead of uttering the sum, a CBI official said.
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ
The firm submitted its complaint to CBI on April 20 last year. The CBIโs verification of the complaint disclosed that the firmโs representatives met the accused officials on April 18, 2022, at their Pune office, and carried a digital video recorder. The recorded conversations featured one of the accused allegedly telling one of the firmโs representatives that he should never mention the sum demanded of them. โ(After a pause), write, never speak about it. Have your lunch,โ one of the accused allegedly told the complainant.
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐
After lunch, an accused allegedly gave a set of instructions to one of the two firmโs representatives. โAn accused told the complainant that he should call him on his other numberโฆ and buy a new phone with a new SIM card and download a messaging-calling application, Bot**, which provides encrypted calls and messaging services, for conversation other than official talk,โ the official said.
๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ต ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ด๐๐ถ๐น๐๐
โThe verification disclosed that the two accused agreed to accept part payment of Rs25 lakh out of the total demand of Rs1 crore,โ the CBI official said. โThe facts and circumstances in the case disclosed commission of offences, including criminal conspiracy and demand of undue advantage under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act,โ the official said.
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