GST State Tax Officer Caught Accepting Rs 3,000 Bribe in Pune

Tikam Shekhawat & Mubarak Ansari

Yerwada, 6th March 2024: Officials from the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) arrested a GST State Tax Officer today for accepting a bribe of Rs 3,000 in exchange for issuing a Goods and Services Tax (GST) number.

An FIR is being registered at Yerwada police station (Pune City Police) against the accused officer, Malti Ramesh Kathale (43), currently stationed at the state GST department office in Yerwada, Pune.

As per the ACB, the complainant had applied for a new GST number in his wife’s name, completing the process by paying a fee of Rs 2500. However, the accused officer, Kathale, allegedly demanded an additional bribe of Rs 3000 for the issuance of the GST number.

Acting upon the complaint, ACB sleuths set a trap at the GST Bhavan in Yerwada, capturing the officer red-handed while accepting the bribe money. Subsequently, a case is being filed against Kathale for offences under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Superintendent of Police (ACB-Pune range) Amol Tambe has urged the public to report any government employee demanding a bribe to the ACB. The ACB office is situated in the Central Building opposite Sassoon Hospital in Pune, and the toll-free number for ACB is 1064.