CBI on Friday accused the Andhra Pradesh government of not allowing it to nab a central government official who was seeking a bribe.
CBI issued a statement alleging that rather than giving consent to lay the trap, Andhra Pradesh government leaked the information to the its Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) which acted on the complaint and laid the trap against that official.
The brawl between CBI and the state government gained limelight when ACB claimed the arrest of a central excise officer when he was allegedly taking a bribe in Machilipatnam district.
CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said,”The CBI had sought the consent of the state government to conduct a trap operation against some central government employees and others suspected of indulging in corrupt practices”.
Dayal accused the state home department by saying that it was asked to treat this information with utmost secrecy. Instead, the department shared this information with its ACB.
Another CBI official said,”The operation by the Andhra Pradesh ACB resulted in the arrest of only one suspect whereas several others under the scanner managed to escape possible arrest.”
On November 8, Andhra government withdrew the general consent given to the CBI to act against central government officials working under the jurisdiction of the state government.
On November 28,the Visakhapatnam unit of CBI received a written complaint from a Machilipatnam resident named Lokesh Babu alleging that a superintendent-rank official posted with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) was seeking bribe of Rs 35000 allegedly for not raising objections in the CGST returns filed by the complainant’s firm.
On receiving the complaint, the superintendent of police, CBI, Visakhapatnam wrote a top secret letter addressed to the state principal secretary (home). CBI statement said,“In the letter, it was requested to issue specific consent to CBI to lay a trap in this particular complaint. It was also requested to keep the information strictly confidential and not to share the information with any other party.”
Dayal said, “This will only make the fight against corruption more difficult for the anti corruption agencies and the mutual trust between the agencies will be vitiated. Corruption can be eradicated only through mutual cooperation, and trust.”