Central GST official caught by Kerala Vigilance while accepting bribe

Thiruvananthapuram: In a first of its kind incident, a Central government official attached to the GST Wing was on Monday taken into custody by the Kerala Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau at Kalpetta in Wayanad while accepting a bribe of Rs one lakh from a government contractor.

According to the VACB officials, Pravinder Singh, the GST official, after assessing the account of a government contractor for financial year 2018-19, found a discrepancy in the returns he had filed.

“This official sought Rs 3 lakh from the contractor so as to close his file, but since he (the contractor) did not have that much, he came with Rs 1 lakh and Singh was taken into custody when the money was being handed over in his vehicle,” a VACB official said.