Rs 83.26 lakh cash has been recovered from the houses and offices of CGST (Central Goods and Services Tax) Superintendent Kapil Kamble and 4 other officers in Jabalpur
Kamble and his fellow Superintendents Soumen Goswami, Inspectors Vikas Gupta, Pradeep Hazari and Virender Jain were arrested by the CBI’s Jabalpur team on Tuesday evening. 7 lakh in this office itself. Was caught red handed while taking bribe.
All of them were presented in the court on Wednesday. Where he has been handed over 6 days remand for questioning on CBI’s application. Now the accused will be produced in the court on June 20.
On May 18, these officers had raided and sealed a pan masala factory at Nohta in Damoh. The factory belongs to Trilokchand Sen, a resident of Dausa, Rajasthan. One crore rupees were demanded in lieu of releasing it. As the last installment of this bribe, when these people deposited Rs.7 lakh in the CGST office. were taking them, then the CBI raided and nabbed them.
The case pertains to Nohta-based Gopan Tobacco Products Private Limited. Company managers Bhagirath Rai and Giriraj Vijay had complained to CBI Jabalpur SP Richpal Singh that they had met Kamble on June 3 to seek permission to reopen the factory. He had then demanded a bribe of Rs 1 crore for issuing the release order of the factory premises. Later the deal was fixed for 35 lakhs. 25 lakhs Rs. Kamble had taken
Bhagirath had asked for some time to pay the balance amount. On the night of June 10, Kamble called Giriraj on WhatsApp and asked him to pay the outstanding amount of Rs 10 lakh immediately. Had warned to auction the machinery if the amount was not paid. On the request of Bhagirath and Giriraj, they were asked to pay concession tax of 7 lakhs.
CBI’s action at Jabalpur CGST office lasted from Tuesday evening till 3 am on Wednesday. In a 10-hour investigation, the team found that Kamble was a superintendent, but his status in the entire office was no less than that of a deputy commissioner. CBI has recovered Rs 3 lakh from Kamble’s house in Ranjhi.
Rs 41 lakhs were recovered from Inspector Pradeep Hazari’s house, Rs 16.88 lakhs from his office cabin. Rs 18.29 lakh has been recovered from Inspector Vikas Gupta’s house, Rs 1.50 lakh from his office cabin. 2.60 lakh rupees have been found from the office cabin of Inspector Virendra Jain. Soumen Goswami lives in Civil Lines, Pradeep Hazari Adhartal, Vikas Gupta Gadha and Virendra Jain.
Trilokchand Sen, a resident of Rajasthan, is a hotelier. In 2021, he had set up a factory in Nohta, Damoh under the names M/s Gopan Tobacco Products Pvt Ltd and Khawasji Beedi Pvt Ltd. If the bidi business did not work, it was closed. The sampling of Pan Masala was going on.
On May 18, 2023, when Trilokchand was in Ratlam, Kapil Kamble’s team raided the factory and seized it. Factory manager Bhagirath Rai and Giriraj Vijay asked the reason for the action. The team did not tell.
On June 3, 2023, Manager Bhagirath Rai and Giriraj Vijay once again reached the CGST office. Met Kapil Kamble. According to him, Kamble demanded a bribe of Rs 1 crore for issuing release orders to the factory. Both the managers said, ‘The amount was very high. We talked to our boss. He wanted to talk to the officer but could not.
Bhagirath told- Kamble’s driver spoke on WhatsApp call on 4th June. Asked to come to Jabalpur. From one crore to 35 lakh, the conversation was gradually settled on the phone itself. On June 5, 2023, we handed over Rs 25 lakh to Kamble in his office and sought time for the remaining Rs 10 lakh.
Kapil and his companions kept counting the bribe of Rs 25 lakh till two in the night in the office itself. About 17,000 rupees were found in a bundle of 500-500 rupee notes, whose notes were torn or had oil on them. According to the factory manager, on June 6, he changed these notes.
On the night of June 10, Kapil Kamble made a WhatsApp call to Giriraj. Asked to give the remaining 10 lakh rupees immediately. Talked again on June 12, then the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 7 lakh.
Trilokchand Sen told that he was constantly being harassed by the CGST officials. There were so many calls for money that he and his entire family were getting depressed. The situation became such that many times even thought of committing suicide.
Somehow he handled himself and gave 25 lakh rupees as bribe by taking loan from the market. Even after this, Kamble continued to harass. These people were so clever that every time they used to call on WhatsApp and ask for bribe money.
Trilokchand Sen’s manager Bhagirath Rai and Giriraj Vijay made a written complaint to the Jabalpur-based CBI on June 12 itself. On this, CBI Jabalpur SP Richpal Singh sent the agency’s team from Nagpur.
