4 GST Officials held for Extortion of Rs.1.5 Crore from Businessman of Bengaluru

The Goods and Service Tax (GST) department’s four officials were held on Wednesday in Bengaluru for allegedly assaulting and extorting Rs 1.5 crore cash from a Bengaluru Businessman.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) officers announced the arrests of Abhishek, Superintendent of Central Tax, South Commissionerate, Bengaluru zone, Manoj Saini and Nagesh Babu, senior intelligence officers of Bengaluru zone, and Sonali Sahay, Bengaluru intelligence officer on Wednesday.

The CCB stated that they all belong to the Director General of GST Intelligence, Bengaluru zone unit (Central GST).

Keshav Tak, who manages Mexo Solutions Private Limited in Jeevan Bhimanagar, submitted a complaint alleging that he was detained and extorted by GST officials between August 30 and September 1.

Based on the complaint, the accused claimed to be the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and GST officials who “raided” the residence. They then drove Tak and his accomplices Pavan Tak, Mukesh Jain, and Rakesh Chandani to Mexo Solutions’ office, where they seized their mobile phones and assaulted them.

In his complaint, Keshav Tak stated, “We were kept in separate rooms. They instructed me to pay them money, so I dialled Rakesh Jain (another colleague) and requested Rs.3 crore. The accused then led us to other locations. Rakesh was unable to arrange the entire amount, but by September 1, he had arranged the amount of Rs.1.5 crore. We were then released to collect the money on their behalf, and they later left all of the documentation in our office.”

On September 2 and 3, Keshav Tak conducted background checks on officials. Later, he filed a police complaint with the Byappanahalli police, and the investigation revealed that the officials did indeed work for the GST, but the raid was carried out without permission. In fact, the complainants were detained illegally for two days.

The CCB police brought the suspects before the magistrate and got their custody for ten days. “We have not recovered any money so far but are going through the transactions that are suspicious,” a CCB officer explained.

The police further stated that the accused had 32 phones, two laptops, and 50 chequebooks taken.