Sales tax officer held for accepting Rs 8,000 bribe

A class II officer from the sales tax office in Bandra was trapped by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday while allegedly accepting Rs 8,000 from a businessman.

A class II officer from the sales tax office in Bandra was trapped by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday while allegedly accepting Rs 8,000 from a businessman.

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ACB sources said that Avinash Bandivadekar, attached to the survey section, was caught inside his office at the Bandra-Kurla complex while accepting the bribe.

According to the ACB, a garment manufacturer from Bandra had paid income tax and sales tax for 2008.

However, his sales fell short of expectations in 2009 and he failed to pay the sales tax. During the third week of 2010, Bandivadekar, along with some of his staff members, went to the garment manufacturing unit in Bandra and initiated action.

In February, the sales tax office served the businessman a notice.

On May 21, the businessman went to the office and met Bandivadekar who allegedly told him that the sales tax office was preparing a file on the defaults made by his establishment.

Bandivadekar then allegedly demanded Rs 30,000 to ‘close’ the file.

The businessman bargained the amount to Rs 10,000, before lodging a complaint with the ACB.

While Bandivadekar was accepting the bribe amount, the ACB officials, who were in plainclothes to avoid suspicion, arrested him.