Goa: CBI books I-T dept employee for demanding Rs 2 lakh bribe

New Delhi, Nov 15 An accountant working in the Income Tax Department in Goa was booked by the CBI for demanding a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a manpower supplier for releasing payment against his bills worth lakhs of rupees.

Pankaj Kumar, working in the accounts office, Income Tax Department, Panaji, was named in the FIR filed on Thursday by the federal agency on receiving a complaint from vendor Kamlakant Chaturvedi.

Chaturvedi, whose firm is engaged in providing manpower services and serving in the Income Tax Department, filed the complaint against Pankaj Kumar and others on November 11.

The vendor’s company, Raj Enterprises, Prapti Residence, Zosewaddo, Socorro, Goa, was allegedly not given payment for the services its staff offered in the Income Tax office over seven months.

Chaturvedi said in his complaint that his seven monthly bills were kept on hold for alleged harassment and demanding bribes.

Despite his requests to the accounts department officials, the culprits demanded a bribe of Rs 2 lakh for releasing payment against his pending bills.

Unable to meet the bribe demand, Chaturvedi approached the CBI for action against the culprits.

CBI sources said his complaint was verified through an official of CBI ACB, Goa, who checked its details and the veracity of the allegations against Pankaj Kumar and others.

“The above-mentioned facts and discreet verification prima facie disclose the commission of offences punishable u/s 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 (as amended in 2018) on the part of Pankaj Kumar, working in Accounts Office, Income Tax Department, Panaji, Goa,” said the CBI FIR registered.

The CBI FIR in alleged corruption in Goa comes a day after a Food Corporation of India (FCI) manager in Bihar was sentenced by a Special CBI Court in Patna to two-and-a-half years of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI), along with a fine of Rs 30,000, in a bribe case dating back to 2010.

Source: IANS