CBI nabs IT officers

In simultaneous raids, central bureau of investigation (CBI) sleuths on Monday arrested four senior Income Tax (I-T) officials, a top builder and a chartered accountant from Noida and Kanpur.

In simultaneous raids, central bureau of investigation (CBI) sleuths on Monday arrested four senior Income Tax (I-T) officials, a top builder and a chartered accountant from Noida and Kanpur.

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The I-T officials were part of the teams which had conduced raids at the residences and offices of three general mangers of the Greater Noida authority and a finance officer of the Noida authority last month. It had then been alleged a builder-official nexus had committed irregularities worth crores of rupees.

Sources said CBI arrested Indian Revenue Services (IRS ) officer and I-T commissioner investigations Kanpur range, Kunal Singh, and managing director of realty firm Eldeco, Pankaj Bajaj, in connection with an alleged graft case.

The agency also arrested joint director investigations Ratan Singh, also an IRS officer, assistant commissioner Uma Kant and I-T inspector Harish Daundiyal, CBI sources said.

Bajaj’s firm was under the scanner for alleged tax evasion. Chartered accountant Anil Jaiswal was also arrested by the agency during the operation. Bajaj is president of real estate body Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of Indian (CREDAI)-NCR. People form Eldeco or office-bearers of CREDAI-NCR neither confirmed nor denied Bajaj’s arrest.

The action comes after searches conducted by the CBI at several locations. Sources said based on a tip-off that the officers were allegedly accepting bribe to settle a tax-evasion cases, CBI carried out searches at various locations.

All others were arrested in Noida. Chartered accountant Anil Jain was held in Kanpur. A four-member CBI team raided the office of Kunal Singh at the income tax directorate in Kanpur and seized documents. All those arrested in Noida were brought to Kanpur for questioning.