CBI Arrests Fugitive Maharashtra CGST Officer in ₹4 Million Bribery Case

Mumbai, September 21 (Daily Kiran) : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an additional commissioner of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, in connection with a ₹4 million bribery case. This case is tied to ongoing actions against a company in Raigad, Maharashtra. The officer, Vinay Kumar Kanthati, had been evading capture since September 16, following the Bombay High Court's order to surrender after revoking his bail along with two co-accused.Instead of complying with the court's directive, Kanthati went into hiding. The CBI tracked him down in Rishikesh, where he was taken into custody. The investigation revealed that Kanthati's associates, Rakesh Kumar Sinha, a superintendent in CGST Raigad, and a private individual named Narinder Rajput, were already in judicial custody. The CBI's anti-corruption branch in Mumbai initiated the case on August 26 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, based on a complaint alleging that Sinha demanded a bribe.The complaint indicated that a sum of ₹1.5 crore was initially requested from the complainant's firm, which was later negotiated down to ₹40 lakh. The CBI set up a sting operation on August 27, during which a customs house agent was caught allegedly accepting the bribe on behalf of the CGST officials. After arresting all three suspects, the CBI presented them in Thane's special court, seeking five days of police custody for questioning. However, the special court dismissed this request on August 28, deeming the arrests unlawful and granting bail to the accused.The CBI subsequently challenged this ruling in the Bombay High Court, which accepted the agency's appeal, overturned the special court's decision, and remanded the three accused to two days of CBI custody. The High Court confirmed that the reasons for the arrests were duly communicated to the accused and their families. Following the High Court's orders, the superintendent and the private individual were held in CBI custody for two days before being transferred to a 14-day judicial remand.In contrast, Kanthati chose to remain at large until his recent capture in Rishikesh.