CBI arrests 2 high-ranking officers of CGST in bribery case

New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) The CBI on Thursday arrested two senior employees of Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) based in Patna for demanding and receiving a bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh.The arrested officers are identified as Chandan Prakash Pandey, a 2016 batch Indian Revenue Service officer and Assistant Commissioner and Mohammed Soaibuddin, Superintendent.The accused were allegedly caught red-handed while accepting the bribe from a flour mill owner, said an officer associated with the case. The officers were posted at the CGST, Patna II.According to sources, the investigative agency is in the process of carrying out searches to collection more evidence in connection with the case in Patna and Jehanabad. According to the initial investigations, the officers had allegedly demanded Rs eight lakh to hush-up proceedings related to the filing of a case against a firm owned by the complainant's wife and sister-in-law.A deal was brokered that the first portion of the bribe of Rs 2.5 lakh would be handed over to the accused. The CBI officials nabbed the accused while accepting the bribe.
--IANS ss/kr