CT, GST Asst Commissioner & 2 Others Arrested For Siphoning Off Over Rs 5.85 Lakh Govt Funds

Bhubaneswar: A day after extensive searches at five locations, the Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Sunday arrested assistant commissioner of CT & GST, Enforcement unit at Jajpur Road, Binay Bhusan Tripathy, and his two associates on the charges of bribery, evasion of taxes, and causing loss to the tune of Rs over Rs 5.85 lakh to the state exchequer.

On May 7, Tripathy intercepted a goods vehicle, carrying MS scrap weighing about 22,240 kg of worth Rs.8,89,600, at Revena in Jajpur and demanded Rs 2.5 lakh as bribe from the owner to release it. When the bribe demand was not met, he sold the entire scrap to another scrap dealer in violation of GST laws. He then collected the tax but misappropriated the balance amount of Rs 5,85,356, a Vigilance release said.

He is also accused of collecting bribes from various transporters and suppliers.

The investigation revealed that he had been parking the bribes collected in various bank accounts of his family members, and later converting them into fixed deposits. “While one such account was opened in the name of his father Madhab Tripathy, the latter denied any knowledge of it and regular cash deposits being made in the same. The account passbooks have been seized from the possession of the assistant commissioner,” it said.

The other arrested are  Jyoti Pattnaik, who falsely claimed ownership of the goods, and Md Golam Sad, a scrap dealer, who received the goods. Further investigation is underway, it added.