Hyderabad: Official spied for some, was informer for others

Hyderabad: Besides being the investigating officer in several high-profile cases, including that of Musaddilal Jewellers, mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, GST officer Bollineni Srinivasa Gandhi is suspected of working as a spy against some sections and an informer for others.

The CBI has received specific information that Gandhi allegedly leaked information to the Sujana Group on its Rs 300-crore tax evasion case. Many documents concerning investigation into high-profile cases have been seized from his house.

Gandhi, who was booked by the Central Bureau of Investiga-tion for having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, reportedly played an instrumental role in allocating cases for investigation in the Enforcement Directo-rate. He was either the investigating officer or assisted in the investigation of Musaddilal Jewellers in connection with the alleged `100 crore post-demonetisation scam in which hundreds of ‘buyers’ purchased gold after high value notes were devalued, the Lanco group case, Q City multi-level marketing scam.

“The CBI pointed out how investigations into certain prominent cas-es were weakened and how information on the investigation was leaked. Certain cases were closed by imposing a penalty, ignoring serious violations,” said a source.

From serving as an assistant director at the ED, Gandhi moved to GST as superintendent of its anti-evasion wing, where he had to investigate cases of fake invoices.

One of the many cases he investigated was of the Sujana Group’s tax evasion. It is alleged that the progress of investigations were leaked to the group.

So far, there has not been any arrest in the case as the CBI is investigating the illegally amassed assets and documents seized during searches of Gandhi.

Gandhi and his wife Sireesha were booked under disproportionate assets for amassing properties whose registration value is Rs 3.74 crore while its market value will be ten times more. In a span of nine years, the accused officer’s assets shot up by 288.08 per cent.

The CBI on Tuesday carried out raids against the officer’s properties in Hydera-bad and Vijayawada.