The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Kanpur-based Commissioner of GST and Central Excise and others in a bribery case pertaining to the Excise Department, an official said on Saturday.
"Sansar Chand, a 1986 batch IRS Officer posted as Commissioner in GST and Central Excise in Kanpur and three superintendents of the department-- Ajay Srivastava, Aman Shah, Rajeev Singh Chandel were arrested on Friday night," a CBI official told IANS.
Beside the three officials, the CBI also arrested an office staffer named Saurabh Pandey and three others.
The CBI has alleged that Chand and other officials were part of the organised and systematic collection of illegal gratification.
The excise officials contacted various people through middleman Awasthi for extorting illegal gratification.
These payments pertained to either monthly or quarterly payments as protection money for omission of action by the Central Excise Department on such private parties, the CBI said.
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The money was collected by public servants and were transferred systematically through hawala channel to Delhi through one Aman Jain.
In certain instances, the bribe would be in form of items like "mobiles, refrigerators and expensive TVs".
The probe agency has booked them under the charges of criminal conspiracy of Indian Penal Code and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.
--IANS
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