CT & GST Asst Commissioner invested bribe money in fixed deposits, arrested by Odisha Vigilance

The officials of Odisha Vigilance on Sunday arrested Binay Bhusan Tripathy, Assistant Commissioner, CT & GST Enforcement Unit, Jajpur along with two of his associates (private persons) on the charges of bribery, evasion of taxes, and causing loss to the Government.

Earlier, a raid was conducted on the properties linked to Tripathy on Saturday following an allegation that he siphoned off government money to the tune of Rs 5.85 lakh.

In June 2024, Tripathy intercepted a goods vehicle carrying a scrap weight of about 22,240 kgs worth Rs 8,89,600.

He subsequently contacted the owner of the goods and asked to deposit Rs 3,20,000 in the cash ledger as tax and further demanded Rs 2,50,000 towards illegal gratification to release the vehicle and material. Surprisingly, Tripathy allegedly sold the entire scrap to another scrap dealer when the bribe demand was not met. He then realized the tax and misappropriated the balance amount of Rs 5,85,356.

A vigilance probe revealed that Tripathy was parking the bribes collected as cash in various bank accounts of his family members. Later, he converted them to fixed deposits. 

One such account was opened in the name of Tripathy's father. The account passbooks have been seized from the possession of the Assistant Commissioner.

According to Vigilance, the two others who have been arrested are- Jyoti Pattnaik, who falsely claimed ownership of the goods, and Md. Golam Sad, a scrap dealer,  who received the goods.