Odisha Income Tax Officer Arrested for Allegedly Taking ₹25,000 Bribe from a Bakery Owner
Odisha vigilance officials arrested tax officer Sarita Barik for allegedly taking a Rs. 25,000 bribe, seizing cash, gold, and documents showing assets far beyond her known income.
Incometax - officer - arrested - Taxscan
Incometax - officer - arrested - Taxscan
Vigilance officers arrested a 55-year-old tax officer in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on 27th August after she was allegedly caught taking a bribe of Rs. 25,000 from a bakery owner. According to The Times of India, the officer has been identified as Sarita Barik. She was serving in the Odisha Finance Service.
According to vigilance officials, Barik demanded the bribe from the bakery owner to reverse his input tax credit for the financial year 2020 to 21 and to exempt him from paying fine and penalty. Acting on a complaint, a vigilance team laid a trap and caught her red-handed while accepting the money. She was taken into custody soon after.
Following her arrest, searches were carried out at her residence in Bhubaneswar. Officials said they seized Rs. 1.45 lakh in cash, 222 grams of gold ornaments, jewellery bills and documents related to the purchase of property. They also discovered bank deposits of around Rs. 60 lakh in the names of Barik and her family members.
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Vigilance Superintendent of Police Saroj Samal said the recovery indicated a huge gap between her known sources of income and the assets found during the search.
Barik had joined government service in March 1993 as a supervisor in the Integrated Child Development Scheme. Later, she entered the Odisha Finance Service in June 2020. Vigilance officials said they had been receiving complaints about her for some time. After verifying the latest complaint from the bakery owner, they gathered evidence and took action.
Officials said the investigation is continuing to find out if there were other instances where she may have demanded or accepted illegal gratification. Further questioning of her and her family members will be carried out to trace the source of the large deposits and properties.
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This arrest comes close on the heels of another vigilance action earlier this month, when a district commercial tax officer in Cuttack was arrested for demanding a bribe from a trader for clearing pending files. In that case, too, large amounts of cash and valuables were recovered from the officer’s house.
The vigilance department has said it is committed to taking strict action against corruption in public service and urged citizens to come forward with complaints against any illegal demand for money.
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