New Delhi, August 28, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two GST officials and a private person in Maharashtra’s Raigad district in connection with an alleged ₹40 lakh bribery case, the agency said on Friday.
The arrested officials are Vinay Kumar Kantheti, an IRS officer of the 2009 batch and Additional Commissioner of GST, and Rakesh Kumar Sinha, Superintendent of GST. Private person Narinder Rajput was also arrested.
According to the CBI, the case was registered on August 26 against Sinha following allegations that he had demanded ₹1.50 crore to settle a GST and royalty matter involving the complainant’s stone-quarrying firm. The demand was subsequently negotiated down to ₹40 lakh, the agency said.
The accused public servants allegedly arranged for Rajput to collect the bribe and instructed the complainant to contact him. The CBI subsequently laid a trap and arrested Rajput while he was allegedly accepting ₹40 lakh.
The agency said the acceptance of the money was later acknowledged by both Sinha and Kantheti.
Searches at premises linked to the accused resulted in the recovery of ₹43 lakh in cash and jewellery valued at ₹90 lakh, the CBI said. All three accused have been arrested and are being produced before the competent court.
Separate BSNL Bribery Case
In a separate case, the CBI on Thursday arrested the Chief Engineer (Electrical) and Superintending Engineer (Electrical) of BSNL in Bhopal in connection with an alleged ₹75,000 bribery transaction.
The agency said the two officials had allegedly demanded ₹2 lakh each from a Jabalpur-based firm, including an amount sought for a co-accused, for processing the firm’s pending bills relating to 14 works involving Operation and Comprehensive Maintenance and electrical installations for BSNL.
The CBI laid a trap and arrested both officials while they were allegedly accepting ₹75,000 each as part payment of the demanded amount.
The agency subsequently conducted searches at the accused officials’ residential and office premises in Bhopal, Lucknow and Kanpur.
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