Chennai, Feb 3 (IANS) The CBI arrested a stenographer of the Income Tax Department while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1.50 lakh for nullifying a matter related to Rs 19 lakh dues of a taxpayer, an official said on Tuesday.

Abhinandan Singh, stenographer, Non-Corporate Ward-Income Tax Department, Chennai, was arrested on Monday and produced in a Special CBI Court on Tuesday, the CBI said.

The Special CBI Court, Chennai, sent Abhinandan Singh to judicial custody after the CBI informed the court that it did not need to question him in its custody, as of now.

Searches were also conducted at the residential premises of the accused after he was arrested in a trap. The searches led to the recovery of incriminating documents, the CBI said.

The CBI said in a statement that the instant case was registered on February 2, based on the complaint against Abhinandan Singh on allegations that the accused demanded a bribe, undue advantage of 10 per cent of the outstanding Income Tax dues of Rs 19 lakh for the Assessment Year 2020-2021 to nullify the same.

The CBI laid a trap and caught the accused red-handed while demanding and accepting an undue advantage in the form of illegal gratification of Rs 1.50 lakh from the complainant.

During the trap proceedings, the bribe money of Rs 1.50 lakh was seized from the accused.

In a separate case related to Uttarakhand, the federal probe agency took over the probe into the Ankita Bhandari murder case, and its Delhi-based Special Crime Branch has registered a case against an “unknown VIP” in connection with the matter.

Two members of the CBI team arrived in Uttarakhand late on Monday to conduct a detailed investigation into the alleged VIP angle linked to the murder of the young girl.

The case returned to the spotlight after viral audio clips and videos surfaced involving former BJP legislator Suresh Rathore and his alleged wife, Urmila Sanawar.

During a Facebook Live session, Sanawar made references to the alleged involvement of a VIP in the murder, triggering fresh controversy and public debate.

After approval from the state government, the CBI registered the FIR on the application of Anil Prakash Joshi, environmentalist, Padam Bhushan, Padam Shree and resident of village Shuklapur, Basant Vihar, Dehradun.

–IANS

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