India News | In U-turn, CBI Defers Arrest of GST Officer in Bribery Case Citing Medical Condition

New Delhi, Mar 21 (PTI) In an embarrassing U-turn, the CBI on Monday said that the arrest of a senior GST officer under scanner in a Rs 1-crore bribery case has been deferred due to his "medical condition".

The agency had on Sunday announced arresting Mohit Dhankar, a senior intelligence officer with the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) in Ghaziabad, for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 1 crore from a businessman.

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The central probe agency claimed that it had also arrested Rakesh Sharma, a private person, for receiving Rs 60 lakh as the first installment of the bribe demanded by Dhankar to show favour in an ongoing case against the businessman.

"The public servant was also caught...," the CBI spokesperson had said on Sunday.

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The CBI on Monday evening gave a contrasting statement that Dhankar's arrest was "deferred due to his medical condition and view regarding this will be taken depending on his medical condition."

Sources claimed when the arrest proceeding was going on at the Rohini home of Dhankar, he jumped out of his house injuring himself.

He has been admitted to a private hospital in the area where he is undergoing treatment, they said.

A call on his arrest will be taken depending on his condition, they said.

The CBI on Monday carried out searches at five locations in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

In one search location in Bulandshahr, a GST inspector whose house was to be covered under the CBI operation fled with his family in time.

The team remained at his house in Khurja City area for over three hours and had to return empty-handed.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)