Priti Pathak
Ramesh Bhagoji Zaid, the Deputy Commissioner, Sales Tax, Kalyan, and Archies Uday Visariya (25), Sales Tax Practitioner were arrested on Wednesday by the Thane unit of Anti – Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 5 Lakhs.
According to the press note issued by ACB, the complainant owned a company and had not paid the Sales Tax of Rs. 97, 43,754. Zaid demanded a bribe of Rs. 50 lakhs for allowing him to not pay the service tax and not register a complaint against his company. After a conversation between the two parties about the bribe amount, Zaid settled at Rs. 20 Lakhs. The complainant registered a complaint against him at the ACB, Thane.
On the basis of the complaint the ACB officials on April 30, 2014 set a trap and arrested Visariya from Dombivali Gymkhana around 1.20 pm while accepting a bribe of Rs. 5 Lakhs (the first installment of the bribe amount) and Zaid from the Sales Tax Office, Kalyan around 2.50 pm.
Further investigation in the matter is in process.