In a major corruption case in Jhansi, Central GST Deputy Commissioner and IRS officer Prabha Bhandari has been arrested by the CBI for allegedly masterminding a ₹1.5 crore bribery racket. The arrest followed the CBI catching two GST superintendents red-handed while accepting a ₹70 lakh bribe.
The CBI trapped GST Superintendents Anil Tiwari and Ajay Kumar Sharma while they were receiving the first instalment of ₹70 lakh. During interrogation, both officers disclosed that the bribe was being collected at the direction of Deputy Commissioner Prabha Bhandari. They told investigators that the total deal was fixed at ₹1.5 crore.
In a recorded call arranged by the CBI, the superintendent informed Prabha Bhandari that ₹70 lakh had been received. She allegedly instructed him to convert the cash into gold and deliver it to her. At the time, Prabha Bhandari was in Delhi, where a CBI team later arrested her.
Simultaneously, the CBI conducted raids at her Jhansi flat, seizing cash, gold, silver, and property-related documents. Around ₹90 lakh in additional cash was recovered during searches. Prabha Bhandari’s husband is a serving Army Colonel.
The case is linked to a raid conducted on December 19 at Jai Durga Hardware in Jhokan Bagh, Jhansi, over alleged GST evasion amounting to ₹13 crore. It is alleged that GST officials demanded ₹1.5 crore to settle the case. Firm owner Raju Mangnani and lawyer Naresh Kumar Gupta were also arrested in connection with the bribery case.
Overall, cash worth about ₹1.6 crore, along with jewellery and documents, has been recovered so far. Prabha Bhandari was produced before a Ghaziabad court and later taken to Lucknow on remand. The other accused were produced before a Jhansi court and sent to Lucknow. Further investigation is underway.
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