The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday carried out a major anti-corruption operation in Jhansi, arresting an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer along with four others for allegedly accepting bribes to protect tax evaders. The action has exposed deep-rooted corruption within the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) department.
According to the CBI, the accused demanded a bribe of ₹1.5 crore from a private firm to settle a GST tax evasion case. As part of the deal, two CGST superintendents were caught red-handed while allegedly accepting ₹70 lakh. Following this, the agency arrested CGST Deputy Commissioner Prabha Bhandari, superintendents Anil Tiwari and Ajay Kumar Sharma, GST lawyer Naresh Kumar Gupta, and a private firm owner, Raju Mangatani of Jai Durga Hardware.
The operation created a stir in Jhansi as two CBI teams conducted simultaneous raids, including a nearly two-hour search at the residence of lawyer Naresh Kumar Gupta in the Nawabad police station area. During the searches, the agency recovered ₹1.60 crore in cash, along with gold and silver jewellery and several property-related documents.
The CBI stated that the accused were part of a nexus that routinely settled GST evasion cases in exchange for bribes, thereby causing significant revenue loss to the government. An FIR has been registered against the accused under corruption charges, and further investigation is underway to identify additional links in the racket.
