CBI arrests absconding IRS officer in Rs 40 lakh bribe case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Vinay Kumar Kanheti, an IRS officer of the 2009 batch and Additional Commissioner of CGST in Raigad, in connection with a bribery case. Kanheti was traced to Rishikesh and taken into custody after he failed to comply with a Bombay High Court order directing him to appear before the investigating agency.

The CBI registered the case on August 26 based on a complaint alleging that Superintendent Rakesh Kumar Sinha demanded a bribe of Rs 1.50 crore, later reduced to Rs 40 lakh. A trap was laid on August 27, and a private person, Narinder Rajput, was caught accepting the money on behalf of Sinha and Kanheti. The CBI arrested all three and produced them before a special court in Thane.

NDTV reports the initial bribe demand was Rs 40 lakh, while India Today says it was first Rs 1.50 crore and then reduced to Rs 40 lakh. The special court initially released the accused, calling the arrests illegal, but the Bombay High Court on September 16 overturned that order and granted the CBI two days of custody. Sinha and Rajput have been remanded to judicial custody. The CBI investigation continues.