CBI arrests GST official in bribery case

The CBI has arrested a deputy commissioner and another official of the goods and services tax department in Amravati in Maharashtra in connection with alleged bribery of Rs 1.5 lakh, an official said here today. The arrested are Deputy Commissioner M V Telgote and Head Hawaldar G D Mishra. "It was also alleged that Deputy Commissioner, GST, Amravati demanded a bribe of Rs 3 Lakh from the complainant for not imposing any penalty on him. Later, the accused reduced the bribe amount to Rs 1.5 Lakh when the complainant expressed his inability to pay and directed the complainant to hand over the bribe at Amravati," CBI Spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said here. The agency laid a trap and caught the deputy commissioner red-handed while allegedly accepting Rs 1.5 Lakh from the complainant, he said. During the investigation, the role of Head Hawaldar G D Mishra in the fraudulent transaction also came into light and he was arrested too, Dayal said. He said searches were conducted at the residences and offices of the officials, which led to the recovery of various "incriminating documents".