A Goods and Services Tax inspector posted in the Central GST office in Surendranagar and a peon were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for allegedly accepting Rs75,000 as bribe from a dealer of snacks in Surendranagar town on Friday. One more inspector booked in the same case is on the run, said ACB. Based on a complaint filed by a dealer of a known snack brand of Gujarat, ACB registered a case against Rajeev Kumar Yadav, Gaurav Arora, and Ravi Joshi. ACB said that Yadav and Arora are GST inspectors and reside in Limdi town of Surendranagar district and Surendranagar respectively. Joshi, a peon in the Central GST office is a resident of Wadhwan town in Surendranagar district. Acting on the complaint, a team led by ACB police inspector Z G Chaunah laid a trap in the Central GST office in Surendranagar and arrested Yadav and Joshi after the former told the complainant on phone to give Rs 75,000 cash to the peon and the peon accepted the bribe amount. "We received a complaint from the dealer this morning that the two inspectors had demanded Rs 75,000 bribe from him. Acting on his complaint, we laid a trap and arrested two accused. We are in the process of completing the formality of arresting them," Chauhan told The Indian Express. The ACB said that the two inspectors had demanded Rs 5 lakh from the dealer for not initiating action against him after the dealer changed his godown and the GST number in the signboard of the godown was not visible. After negotiations, the two inspectors agreed to not take any action against the dealer if he paid them Rs75,000 cash. "Arora proceeded on leave this morning and therefore was not present in the office when the trap was laid. He is on the run and efforts are on to arrest him," a top officer of ACB said.
