Gujarat: GST official caught taking Rs 21,000 bribe

A state GST official was arrested by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) while accepting a bribe in his office at Bahumali building, Lal Darwaza on Tuesday.

The ACB said in a release that GST official Rajesh Sandpa, posted in the office of the assistant commercial tax commissioner of Ahmedabad division 2, was caught while accepting Rs 21,000 as bribe in his private chambers.

"The GST official had issued a notice to the complainant in connection to his tax assessment for 2014-15. He had demanded a bribe for lowering the payable tax and penalty amount. The complainant didn't want to pay the bribe, and so approached the ACB. The official was thus caught in the trap while accepting the bribe money," the ACB said in the release.

The complainant is a Surat-based businessman. ACB assistant director DP Chudasama said they recovered the entire bribe money, and also arrested the GST official.