Santosh Karnani case, SC cancels bail, Ex assistant commissioner Johri arrested

AHMEDABAD: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a former senior Income Tax official in a Rs 30 lakh bribery case where he allegedly helped his senior officer to escape a trap operation by the Gujarat ACB last year and threw his two mobile phones in a river to destroy evidence.

The case relates to an alleged bribery scandal involving Income Tax official Santosh Karnani, whose anticipatory bail was also canceled by the Apex Court, which directed him to join the probe in four days.

The former officer arrested by the central agency is Vivek Johri, who allegedly helped his senior Mr Karnani in escaping the ACB trap and also in destroying the crucial evidence.

As per the details, the anti graft agency has with the help of the state-of-the-art sonar technology, conducted a meticulous operation to retrieve the crucial evidence, which comprised of two mobile handsets, including one of Realme make, that had been callously discarded by former assistant commissioner Vivek Johri in the Sabarmati river.

According to the details shared by the CBI, the agency took the help of divers and other specialised agencies were employed, equipped with diving equipment and a remotely operated vehicle fortified with cutting-edge sonar technology, to successfully recover the incriminating mobiles which were allegedly thrown into the river.

The mobile handsets were reportedly handed over to Johri by Karnani, who was escaping the ACB trap.

Subsequently, the case was handed over to the central agency CBI by the state government.

“It was alleged that the then assistant commissioner of Income Tax (Vivek Johri) had facilitated the escape of Additional Commissioner (Santosh Karnani) from his office by creating a ruckus during the trap proceedings on October 4, 2022 laid by the anti corruption bureau (ACB) of Gujarat,” the CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

Johri, who was posted in Ahmedabad, was arrested in connection with a case registered on October 12, 2022 on a reference from the Gujarat government related to the bribery of Rs 30 Lakh.

Posted as the then additional commissioner of Income Tax (Central Range-I), Mr Karnani had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 30 lakh from a real estate player of the city.