IT officer Verma got part of bribe when out on bail

Indian Revenue Service Officer Ashutosh Verma, who was arrested in 2008 by CBI for allegedly taking bribe from arms dealer Suresh Nanda, had secured a major portion of remaining bribe after his bail.

New Delhi: Indian Revenue Service Officer Ashutosh Verma, who was arrested in 2008 by CBI for allegedly taking bribe from arms dealer Suresh Nanda, had secured a major portion of remaining bribe after his release on bail in the case, the investigative agency sources said. Verma, the then Deputy Director of Income Tax Department, who had earlier received Rs 4.4 crore of the promised Rs 30 crore bribe from Suresh Nanda for diluting Income Tax cases against him, allegedly received the remaining amount after he was released on bail in April 2008, CBI sources said.

The agency is believed to have unearthed the money trail of the part payment of Rs 4.4 crore which is alleged to have been invested in a resort in Goa by Verma through a benami transaction in the name of M/s Parivati company, they said. The sources claimed that the land deal took place when the appraisal report of the Nanda was under preparation. They said Verma allegedly tried to take over land through another company M/s Whitening Expressions. They said CBI received from a "source" a CD of tapped conversation between Nanda and Verma discussing alleged criminal conspiracy to dilute Income Tax appraisal report against Nanda who was accused in the Naval War Room Leak case as well and payment of illegal gratification. They claimed the CD along with intercepted telephone calls and statements of the witnesses under sections 161 and 164 of the CrPC helped them crack the entire criminal conspiracy and the way the bribe amount was invested by Verma in the name of his relatives. Verma, a 1999-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, was arrested in March 2008 from JW Marriot Hotel in Mumbai, along with arms dealer Suresh Nanda, his son Sanjeev Nanda, key accused in the BMW hit-and-run case, and their chartered accountant Bipin Shah. They were arrested while they were discussing alleged dilution of I-T appraisal report of Nanda to evade tax liabilities, they said. PTI