Asst Commissioner of CT-GST in Odisha caught taking bribe

An Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Tax and GST in Odisha was arrested by anti-graft Vigilance sleuths on Friday for allegedly taking bribe from a trader to reactivate his registration certificate.

Senior Odisha Finance Service (OFS) officer Ajay Kumar Mallick, now posted as Assistant Commissioner of CT & GST in Malkangiri, was arrested after being caught while accepting illegal gratification of Rs 10,000, a Vigilance release said.

Following a complaint by the proprietor of a textile outlet, a trap was laid and Mallick was caught red-handed by Vigilance officers in his office chamber while demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 10,000 from complainant, it said.

As per direction of the accused, the complainant kept the bribe amount on a file which Mallick thereafter removed and kept beneath the file. The bribe money was recovered and seized in presence of witnesses, it said.

While the OFS officer was arrested, his residential house and official quarter at Malkangiri were searched. The case is under investigation.