Hyderabad: CBI sleuths booked the superintendent of the anti-evasion wing of GST, Hyderabad zone, B. Srinivasa Gandhi and his wife Sireesha for amassing properties whose registration value is Rs 3.74 crore.
A source said Gandhi assisted in investigating many high-profile cases that were being probed by the ED, including I-T evasions, and customs. The CBI received two very specific inputs about him minting money in GST and when this was checked, it proved to be true. Most properties are registered in the names of his family members.
The CBI booked a case against Gandhi under section 13(2) r/w 13 (1) (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act for criminal misconduct by intentionally enriching himself illicitly. His wife has been booked under IPC Section 109.
Gandhi joined the Excise department as an inspector in 1992. He was promoted as superintendent and posted in Hyderabad. On deputation he was posted in the DRI. He served in the Enforcement Directorate between 2014 and 2019.
The market worth is said to be 10 times more.
In a span of nine years, the officer’s assets shot up by 288.08 per cent, the CBI said.
The officer had served as an assistant director in the Enforcement Directorate, Hyderabad, and assisted in the investigation of the now AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s quid pro quo case and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy’s cases.
Sources say the corruption is linked to these cases. The CBI, which is in a hair-trigger state of alert, received two specific complaints against the officer for minting money in the Hyderabad GST wing.
Investigation in the case found that immovable property in the form of plots of land in prime locations in Hyderabad and Amaravati were registered in the names of his father and sister.
According to the FIR (first information report) filed by the CBI, between 2010 and 2019, Mr Gandhi bought land in Kankipadu, Prodduturu, Yenkepedi (Vijayawada) in AP and Kondapur, Kukatpally, Madeenaguda and Hyderguda in TS.
