BENGALURU:A superintendent of Customs department at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has been accused of demanding an illegal gratification to release imported electronic goods.According to the complainant, S Muthukrishnan, proprietor of BS Systems located at Thippasandra, he had purchased electronic items — 11 car stereos, one piano, two mother boards — in Bangkok and travelled along with it to Bengaluru via Colombo by Sri Lankan Airlines on March 1 around 2.40am.
After the immigration check, he collected the items and approached the Customs area. At the Customs area, Shafiullah who was on duty, detained the goods and allegedly asked him to pay a bribe of Rs 30,000.
On the pretext of getting the money from his house and friends, Muthukrishnan asked the officer if he could go out and came out of the Airport to inform the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office.
After filing a complaint, a CBI police inspector verified the complaint and found it to be genuine in nature.
The sources said Muthukrishnan was a frequent traveller and knew several officials in the customs.
Sources said, along with Shafiullah another Customs police inspector, Abhishek was also taken into to custody for questioning. However, CBI did not divulge further information. Anti-Corruption Bureau of CBI has filed a criminal case under prevention of corruption act against Shafiullah and are investigating the case.
Sources from the Customs department said that there is a wing which looks after the irregularities and they do not inform about the probe.This is not the first time that the customs officials at the airport were caught on bribery charges. In 2016, five superintendents of customs along with three touts were caught while collecting bribes for clearing files for release of imported goods, at the import section terminals.
In 2015, a superintendent of customs was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of `2.5 lakh from an exporter for clearing a cargo of silk scarves meant for export to a firm in Malaysia.