Six fugitive tax dept officials show up at office, vigilance upset
PATIALA : Punjab vigilance bureau is peeved at the taxation department for letting six officials evading arrest in the GST evasion scam ‘join’ work and not informing it. The officials were on the run for over four months since registration of an FIR in September 2020 in the multicrore scam, involving officials of the mobile wing of the tax department, transporters and middlemen, busted by the vigilance bureau.
The fugitive officials who reported at taxation department headquarters in Patiala on January 5 are: HS Sandhu, Harmeet Singh, Manjit Singh, all AETC, and Simran Brar and Sushil Kumar, both ETO, and divisional excise and commissioner BK Virdi. After their ‘joining’, the vigilance bureau took up the matter with the financial commissioner (taxation) A Venu Prasad and arrested ETO Sushil Kumar from Amritsar. Currently, he is in the custody of flying squad of Vigilance Bureau, Mohali. Vigilance bureau director LK Yadav reportedly had taken up the issue with the taxation department. Financial commissioner (taxation) A Venu Prasad confirmed that VB did take up the matter with him. “It’s a wrong impression that department had allowed them to join work. They all are still under suspension. They just reported back at the headquarters as ordered. If the VB needs them for investigation, it can act against them.” Prasad said that he has already clarified the matter with the VB officials.
Questions are being raised over the fact that the taxation department didn’t inform the vigilance department when the official wanted in the scam turned up at the headquarters. “It is surprising that the officials nominated in the FIR reported back and the authorities didn’t inform the VB,” said a source in the taxation department.
When the FIR was registered, BK Virdi, divisional excise and taxation commissioner, was posted as joint director, investigation, Jalandhar; Manjit Singh as AETC, mobile wing, Amirtsar; Harmeet Singh as AETC, audit, Bathinda; and Harjinder Singh Sandhu as AETC, Ferozepur. Simran and Sushil Kumar were posted as ETO in the mobile wing. Punjab vigilance bureau DSP Harpreet Singh said one of the accused officer, Sushil Kumar was arrested. “We will nab all others, who are wanted in the case,” he said.