CGST officer accused in ₹40L bribery case nabbed from Rishikesh

On Monday, CBI officials said Kantheti was traced to a ‘homestay accommodation’ at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand and taken into custody by a CBI team to comply with the high court’s order

MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken into its custody a Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) additional commissioner who is accused in a ₹40 lakh bribery case, and who was untraceable since last Wednesday, when the Bombay High Court quashed the bail granted by a Thane court to him and two other accused.

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The high court had remanded the additional commissioner posted in Raigad, Vinay Kumar Kantheti, and two other accused – CGST superintendent Rakesh Sinha and private person Narinder Rajput – to the CBI’s custody for two days. While the CBI took custody of Sinha and Rajput for two days pursuant to the high court order and the duo was later remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, Kantheti, an Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer, remained untraceable.

On Monday, CBI officials said Kantheti was traced to a ‘homestay accommodation’ at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand and taken into custody by a CBI team to comply with the high court’s order. Investigators suspect that he had first gone to Delhi from Mumbai, then reached Rishikesh by bus, and he had been taking precautions to stay undetected.

Kantheti had moved the Supreme Court via a special leave petition against the high court’s order, which was dismissed on Monday, officials said.

The case against the trio stems from a first information report registered by the CBI’s anti-corruption branch in Mumbai on August 26 under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The FIR was based on a complaint alleging that Sinha and Kantheti had demanded a bribe of ₹1.5 crore, which was subsequently reduced to ₹40 lakh, in connection with proceedings relating to the complainant’s stone-quarrying firm.

Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap on August 27, during which Rajput, a customs house agent, was apprehended while allegedly accepting ₹40 lakh on behalf of Sinha and Kantheti. Sinha, Rajput and Kantheti were arrested the same day and produced before a Thane special court for remand on August 28.

The CBI sought five days’ police custody of the accused for custodial interrogation. But the special court rejected the CBI’s request, held the arrests to be illegal, and released the accused on bail. The court questioned the manner in which the arrests were documented and carried out and held that the law requires the accused to be informed in writing about the grounds and reasons for arrest.

The high court subsequently allowed a criminal revision application from the CBI, and on Wednesday, set aside the special court’s order dated August 28. The high court, after examining the record, found that “the grounds of arrest had been communicated and that the relevant family members and advocates had been informed”, CBI officials said.