Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has booked two GST officials and arrested a private individual for allegedly demanding a Rs 1.25 crore bribe from a Nashik-based businessman to expedite a tax-related investigation.
The Accused
The accused officials have been identified as Somnath Dattu Page, Deputy Commissioner in the GST office, Nashik division, and Machindra Vitthal Donde, Assistant Commissioner in the same office. A private individual, Amit Hingman Jadhav, was allegedly acting as a middleman.
According to the ACB, the complainant, who runs an office at Damodar Chowk in Nashik, was asked to pay Rs 1.25 crore to speed up the GST probe against his firm. The businessman approached the ACB’s Worli office in Mumbai on March 1 and lodged a complaint.
Verification and Negotiation
During verification carried out on March 4 in the presence of panch witnesses, the accused officials allegedly agreed to settle the demand for Rs 1 crore and sought the first instalment of Rs 20 lakh.
Acting on the complaint, ACB officials laid a trap on March 6 and caught Jadhav red-handed while accepting Rs 20 lakh from the complainant on behalf of the officials.
Following the operation, a case has been registered at Indira Nagar Police Station in Nashik under Sections 7, 7A and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against the two officials and the private individual.
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