Deputy I-T commissioner held in Rs 28 lakh scam

CHANDIGARH: At time when Income Tax department officials are

tracking fraudsters in the demonitisation drive

, the Haryana police have booked a senior officer of the department for siphoning off tax money. They have arrested a deputy commissioner of income tax department posted at Karnal for allegedly transferring Rs 28 lakh into an accomplice’s bank account. The fraud was committed four years ago when the officer was posted at Rohtak.

The two men, deputy commissioner

Shambhu Dayal

and Pravindra Kumar, were produced before a magistrate in Rohtak on Thursday and sent to police custody for five days. Kumar was a contractual computer operator in the department.

The money was deposited online by two companies —

Nittu Creations Private Limited and V V Transport

— as advance income tax for 2013-14. The accused allegedly shifted it to Kumar’s PAN number by using the deputy commissioner’s login which had the rights to access the money. Investigating officer Surender Singh told TOI that both men divided the money between themselves. “This is the first such fraud that we have noticed in the region,” Singh said.

Senior police officials said the accused have agreed to help them recover about Rs 10 lakh that hasn’t been spent and is hidden at different places. Bank details of the two men are also being looked into to find out if this was a one-off scam or if they had defrauded other tax payers as well. “There may be more such cases. Investigations are on,” Singh added.

The complaint was first registered by joint commissioner of I-T Rajesh Kumar. He informed the police that the documents clearly showed connivance of both men as they had modified the advance tax challan paid by the two companies.

Sources added that Dayal had suspected that he would be arrested in the case and had applied for voluntary retirement about two months ago. However, the department rejected his application and shifted him to Karnal.