ACC sting operation nets Rajshahi deputy tax commissioner taking Tk10 lakh bribe

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has arrested a deputy tax commissioner of the Rajshahi income tax office on charges of bribery and harassing a taxpayer.

Deputy Tax Commissioner Mahibul Islam Bhuiyan was caught while taking a bribe of Tk10 lakh in cash on Tuesday. The ACC members arrested him after investigating a complaint from a doctor based in Rajshahi who alleged that the deputy tax commissioner harassed her and demanded a bribe to reduce her tax liability.

"After receiving her complaint, we accompanied her to meet Mahibul Islam. We caught him red-handed with the bribe of Tk10 lakh," Director of ACC District Coordination Office Md Moniruzzaman told The Business Standard.

"The doctor complained that she was harassed by Mahibul in various ways. At one point, Mahibul said if she paid him Tk60 lakh, he would reduce her taxes. Tk10 lakh was the first instalment of the said amount," the ACC official said.

Md Moniruzzaman said, "Since the doctor filed the complaint at the head office in Dhaka, Mohibul was kept under surveillance from 29 March. We have all the documents of his bribery transaction."

He also said in the last five years, the doctor had transactions of Tk26 crore, which she did not declare when she submitted her tax return. Not providing asset information is a crime but bribery cannot be the solution in any circumstance. A bribery case will be filed against the tax officer.

However, Mahibul Islam Bhuiya alleged that the doctor brought Tk10 lakh and tricked him. He said it was a staged raid to arrest him. He claimed that he did not touch the money.