Four income tax officials held in bribery case

Four income tax officials, including a joint commissioner, along with a chartered accountant and his assistant have been arrested in a bribery case in Kolkata, the CBI said Monday.

The accused were booked for demanding illegal gratification of Rs.25 lakh from the owner of a fishery firm based in South 24 Parganas in West Bengal.

"It was alleged that the accused had demanded bribe for providing relief to the owner in avoiding penalty and additional tax liability," said a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official.

"The chartered accountant and his assistant were caught red-handed at the complainant's office while accepting an illegal gratification of Rs.3 lakh as an instalment of the demanded bribe on behalf of the joint commissioner and other income tax officials," he said.

The joint commissioner and the other income tax officials were arrested later, he said.

The official said searches were conducted Saturday at the office and residences of the accused in Kolkata, Mumbai and Bihar.

"Cash amounting to Rs.3.5 lakh and documents of three immovable properties and 14 bank accounts have been recovered from the joint commissioner's house in Mumbai," the official said.