The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a top income-tax official and his chartered accountant for accepting bribe of `2.20 lakhs from a software engineer in lieu of giving a closure report in an income tax scrutiny for the assessment year 2006-2007.
Ramphool P. Meena (51), commissioner of income-tax (appeals) and his aide U.P. Pai (65) were arrested last night on bribery charges for demanding and accepting a bribe of `2.20 lakhs from the enigneer who was working in a private firm.
“The engineer was asked to an pay income tax of `20 lakhs for his 2006-07 individual assessment but he challenged in the appeal wing of the department saying his tax liability was miscalculated,” said Rishi Raj, joint director CBI. According to the CBI, the engineer’s liability should have been `9 lakhs. However, the wrong calculation from the tax department resulted in a `20-lakh tax liability.
Meanwhile, the engineer had approached Meena a year-and-a-half year ago.
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5 home guards quit as Maoists kill colleague
Akshaya Kumar Sahoo
Bhubaneswar
July 9: At least five home guards working under the Machhakund police station in Orissa’s Maoist-hit Koraput district tendered their resignations on Saturday fearing an attack by the Maoists.
“Five home guards submitted their resignations to me today. They have stated in the resignation letter that they took the decision to quit their job bearing Maoist attack,” assistant sub-inspector of the police Harekrishna Mallik said.
Rajesh Hental, one of the five home guards who put in his papers, said they were shocked by the brutal murder of their colleague Binod Khemund by the rebels on Thursday.
Khemund, along with constable Bala Sakhi, were shot dead when they were returning to the police station after their duty at Anakadeli weekly market.
Koraput superintendent of police, A.K. Sahu, while admitting the “crucial” role of the role home guards in the anti-Naxal operations, said the administration was assessing the situation.
Rabindranath Sahu, another home guard, said, “We had no choice.”