New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday carried out searches at the office and residence of an IAS officer here in connection with the graft case in which it arrested Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
A CBI source said that multiple teams of sleuths were carrying out searches at the residence and officer of Gopal Krishna Madhav, a Goods and Service Tax (GST) officer in the Trade Taxes Department of Delhi government, and of senior IAS officer Udit Prakash in connection with the case.
The source also said that the a team of the central probe agency was also carrying out searches at the Wazirabad area residence of middleman Dheeraj Gupta, who was arrested by the agency on February 5 and is currently in judicial custody.
A senior CBI officer said that the further action comes in the wake of the revelations made by Madhav during his questioning. The CBI arrested Madhav in an alleged bribery case on the basis of information provided by Gupta.
Madhav, who allegedly accepting Rs 2 lakh in bribe, is slated to present Madhav in a Delhi court.
"During questioning, Gupta had revealed that he was close to a tax officer in the Delhi government," the CBI source said. Following this, a trap was laid and Madhav arrested on Thursday evening.
The source said that Gupta was acting as a middleman on behalf of some Goods and Services Tax Department officers to collect bribe money from transporters for not levying GST on them.
The source said that Madhav had demanded Rs 2.26 lakh to settle an old tax case.
According to the Delhi government's website, Madhav is currently posted as OSD to Sisodia.
Earlier in the day, the Deputy Chief Minister demanded strict punishment to the arrested officer.In a tweet in Hindi, Sisodia said he came to know that the CBI has arrested the Goods and Services Tax Inspector while taking a bribe. "The CBI should ensure strict punishment for him. I have caught many such corrupt officials in the last five years," Sisodia added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday claimed that the Kejriwal government was targeting traders.
BJP's Delhi unit tweeted: "OSD to Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI while accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh in a GST case. He was posted in Sisodia's office since 2015. The total amount, however, was fixed at Rs 10 lakh. The Aam Aadmi Party government has been exploiting such traders, but Kejriwal has always maintained silence."
