New Delhi: The CBI has arrested a senior
Income Tax department official from Chennai and two others,
including the Managing Director of a private educational firm,
on charges of accepting a bribe of Rs 50 lakh from the latter
in a tax evasion case.
The sleuths nabbed Additional Income Tax Commissioner
Andasu Ravindar, an IRS of 1991 batch, along with Kishore,
Managing Director of Everonn Educational Ltd, Perungudi, and
one Uttam Chand Bohra while Ravindar was allegedly trying to
transport the bribe money to a safe location from his
residence, CBI officials said.
"The agency also carried out search operations at
Mumbai, Hyderabad, Vizag, Bangalore and Chennai resulting in
seizure of Rs 48 lakh from the private person's residence and
Rs.10 lakh from other places. The bribe amount of Rs 50 lakh
and the gold jewellery weighing 1.8 kgs were seized from the
residence of Additional Commissioner," CBI spokesperson
Dharini Mishra said.
During a search operation on August four at the premises
of Everonn Educational Ltd, which provided in-school education
through internet, Ravindar found that the firm had allegedly
concealed taxable income of Rs 116 crore.
After the search operation, Managing Director of the firm
Kishore allegedly contacted Ravindar through a chartered
account T Bhanu Sekar to conceal Rs 60 crore of taxable
income out of Rs 116 crore detected by the search and survey
department, the officials said.
Sekar who was well known to Income Tax officials arranged
a meeting between Ravindar and Kishore in Mumbai on August 10
to negotiate and reduce the Income Tax liability, the agency
officials said.
After negotiations Ravindar allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh
as bribe for concealing the taxable income and reducing tax
liability of the firm which was to be handed over to him at
his residence, they said.
As planned, the Managing Director allegedly brought the
money packed in a cardboard box used for packing fans at the
scheduled time.
While Ravindar was allegedly trying to smuggle this amount
to some unknown place through Bohra, CBI sleuths nabbed three
of them and seized the bribe money, the officials said.
The agency has registered a case of criminal conspiracy
and slapped relevant provisions of the Prevention of
Corruption Act against the trio.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 20:48