CBI arrests Income Tax officer for accepting Rs 10 lakh as bribe

The CBI has arrested an Income Tax inspector in Lucknow for allegedly receiving Rs 10 lakh in bribe to settle a tax case against a businessman, officials said Thursday.

It was alleged that the Income Tax Inspector had demanded an illegal gratification of Rs 25 lakh for releasing Fixed Deposit Receipts worth Rs seven crore seized during a search from a Kolkata-based private company in connection with the probe of another company, the CBI spokesperson said here.

Inspector Dharmsheel Agrawal allegedly agreed to accept Rs 10 lakh as first instalment, he said.

"CBI laid a trap and caught the Income Tax Inspector and a private person of Lucknow while accepting Rs 10 lakh from the complainant," he said.

The agency carried out searches at the residence of the officer from where it recovered about Rs 10.50 lakh in cash and documents relating to several bank accounts and investments, he said.