VB conducts raid in Jalandhar, but fails to nab excise official
Deputy excise and taxation commissioner absconding since he was booked last year; 6 people arrested so far in the case
VIGILANCE SAYS EXCISE OFFICIALS WERE TAKING BRIBES FROM BUSINESSMEN AND TRANSPORTERS TO FERRY GOODS IN AND OUT OF THE STATE WITHOUT PAYING GST
JALANDHAR: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Thursday conducted a raid in Jalandhar to arrest deputy excise and taxation commissioner VK Birdi, the prime accused in the multicrore tax evasion racket, but had to return empty-handed.
The raid was conducted at the palatial residence of Birdi’s father-in-law. Acting on a tipoff about Birdi’s presence, VB sources said teams raided the house in Gobind Nagar, where his family members were also present. Vigilance officials claimed that Virdi’s family locked the house and sought search warrants.
Assistant inspector general (AIG), vigilance, Ashish Kapoor declined to comment on the matter.
Birdi has been absconding since he was booked last year. Six people, including four excise officials, have been arrested so far. The family of Birdi contested the claims of VB that the teams led by deputy superintendent of police Dalbir Singh were stationed outside the house since the wee hours
of Thursday.
In September 2020, the VB registered a case against seven excise officials, including the divisional excise and taxation commissioner (DETC) and four assistant excise and taxation commissioners (AETC). They are BK Birdi, DETC, posted as joint director, investigation,
Jalandhar; HS Bajwa, AETC, excise wing, Amritsar; Manjit Singh, AETC, mobile wing, Amritsar; Harmeet Singh, AETC, audit, Bathinda; Harjinder Singh Sandhu, AETC, Ferozepur; Tarlok Singh posted as ETO, mobile wing, Amritsar; Pushpdeep Singh, superintendent, central GST, Amritsar, and two private persons, including Kailash, a transporter from Jalandhar.
According to the Vigilance Bureau sources, the excise officials were taking monthly bribes from businessmen and transporters to ferry goods in and out of the state without paying the goods and services tax (GST).
The Enforcement Directorate had launched a parallel probe into the GST evasion in view of its inter-state links. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had sought probe details from the VB. Jalandhar senior superintendent of police, Daljinder Singh Dhillon didn’t respond to the calls.