Gold biscuits from Odisha GST officer’s bank locker seized
The Paradip-based GST officer was caught by Odisha Vigilance on 31 March accepting a bribe Rs 80,000 from a complainant.
Odisha Vigilance Department recovered over one-kilogramme gold and properties worth crores of rupees, from several places linked to a senior CT and GST officer (Enforcement Unit) on Wednesday, according to a press statement from Y.K. Jethwa Director Odisha Vigilance.
The officer has been identified as Chittaranjan Mohanty of Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district. According to a press release, the accused officer Mohanty has been sent to judicial custody till April 13.
“It is worthwhile to mention that Mohanty was trapped and arrested by Odisha Vigilance on March 31 for accepting bribes of Rs 80,000 from a complainant to furnish the closure report of a CT and GST case,” read the release.
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As per the official statement, two bank lockers of Mohanty and his wife at Bank of Maharashtra and Punjab and Sindh Bank at CDA, Cuttack were traced and searched by the vigilance team.
“The recoveries from the lockers were Gold jewellery weighing 1.060 Kg including 19 gold biscuits of 24 carats costing 26 lakhs,” added the release.
The total gold recovered during searches is 1.135 Kg worth Rs 64 Lakh. Meanwhile, a total cash amount of Rs 6.59 Lakh was also recovered including Rs 5.4 Lakh from the locker and Rs one Lakh from the office of Mohanty”, informed Vigilance Director Jethwa.
Further bank and insurance deposits and investments in mutual funds worth over Rs 1.04 crore have also been unearthed, added the release.
In this connection, Cuttack Vigilance PS case No.4 /23 U/s-7PC (Amendment)Act, 2018 was registered.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
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