Sales tax inspector attempts to extort Rs 15 lakh from GST tribunal judge in Nagpur

Sales tax inspector attempts to extort Rs 15 lakh from GST tribunal judge in Nagpur; two booked

An inspector with the state sales tax department allegedly threatened and attempted to extort Rs 15 lakh from a judge of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) tribunal in Maharashtra’s Nagpur, police said on Sunday.

The police have registered a case under section 385 (extortion) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code against inspector Rajkumar Diwase of the sales tax department, and his accomplice Prakash Gaikwad, senior inspector Sanjay Mendhe of Sadar police station said.

According to the police, Ramesh Bhagu Zaid (59), a judge in the GST tribunal, allegedly received messages from Diwase recently, in which he threatened to expose the judge with the help of an RTI activist and warned about physically harming him if he did not give Rs 15 lakh.

Zaid was earlier a joint commissioner in the state sales tax department and Diwase had approached him to stall a transfer order issued to him in November last year, the official said.

When the complainant did not endorse the request, the accused started asking him for financial assistance last month, he said, adding that Zaid also received extortion calls from Gaikwad during this period.

Subsequently, the complainant discovered that the two accused were collaborating with each other in the extortion bid, the official said.

The accused were summoned to Sadar police station on Saturday in connection with the case, Mendhe said.