2.20 lakh: Going rate to buy out IT Commissioner

CBI arrests IT Commissioner (Appeal) RP Meena for accepting a bribe from a software engineer via his chartered accountant

2.20 lakh: Going rate to buy out IT Commissioner

CBI arrests IT Commissioner (Appeal) RP Meena for accepting a bribe from a software engineer via his chartered accountant

In a case of graft involving a high ranking official, the anti corruption bureau (ACB) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Income Tax Commissioner (Appeal) RP Meena and his chartered accountant UP Pai late on Friday, for accepting a bribe of Rs 2.20 lakh.

IT Commissioner (Appeal) RP Meena being taken to court, after the CBI
arrested him on Saturday. PICs/SHADAB KHAN

The CBI Zonal Director Rishiraj Singh and Deputy Inspector General Abhin Modak informed the media about the arrests on Saturday.

According to Singh, Meena had asked a software engineer from a private firm to pay a sum of Rs 2.20 lakh in return for a closure report in an income tax scrutiny for the year 2006-2007.

He reportedly asked the engineer to pay the amount to Pai if he wanted his file to be cleared. Else he would be compelled to shell out heavy penalties, he was warned.

The engineer then approached the CBI, and hatched a plan to catch Meena and Pai red-handed. Pai was summoned to a restaurant near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by the complainant, where the money was handed over.

At that moment, undercover CBI offficials at the venue nabbed Pai.

During interrogation, Pai confessed that he was to hand over the money to Meena and that he regularly collected bribes for on his behalf.

A CBI team rushed to Meena's Nepean Sea Road residence to arrest him. On seeing the CBI team arrive, Meena tried throwing away his mobile phone to cover up evidence. Later, the sleuths recovered three more cell phones, with their sim cards registered under fictitious names. Officials suspect Meena used these cell phones to conduct clandestine operations.

According to preliminary investigations, Meena owns a houses in Mumbai, Delhi and Dausa, Rajasthan. He also possesses a plot of land and a bank locker in Jaipur. Searches are underway at Pai's two offices and residence in Mumbai, and Meena's houses.