IRS officer accused of masterminding ₹1.5 crore bribe deal. How a phone call exposed her

IT took simply unity sound call in for the telephone exchange Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to expose what it describes as a “carefully orchestrated” corruption racket allegedly led by a woman Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer at the heart of the Central GST department in Jhansi.That call, made under the watchful eyes of CBI officers, is now the most damning piece of evidence against 2016 batch IRS officer Prabha Bhandari, deputy commissioner, Central GST, accused of masterminding a ₹1.5-crore bribe deal to bury a major tax evasion case, according to those in the know.A senior CBI official confirmed the IRS officer was brought to Lucknow, along with her subordinates and others from Jhansi CGST office, to present them before Lucknow Special CBI court on Thursday for further legal proceedings.The official informed the operation began dramatically when the CBI caught GST superintendents Anil Tiwari and Ajay Kumar Sharma red-handed, allegedly while accepting ₹70 lakh in cash, the first instalment of the agreed bribe at the CGST office in Jhansi. Under questioning, both officers broke down and named their superior, deputy commissioner Prabha Bhandari, as the brain behind the deal, he added.“But the CBI wanted more than a confession, They wanted direct proof. In a calculated move, investigators asked one of the arrested superintendents to call Bhandari on speakerphone, right there, in front of them,” he said and further informed, “The phone rang. Two rings later, she picked up”. “The party has delivered ₹70 lakh,” the superintendent said.According to the CBI, the response was instant—and incriminating. “Very good,” Bhandari allegedly replied, before giving precise instructions to convert the cash into gold and hand it over to her. The entire conversation was recorded, turning a routine bribe collection into a smoking gun. With that call, the CBI says the alleged conspiracy stood exposed beyond doubt.At the time the call was made, Prabha Bhandari was in Delhi. A CBI team swiftly moved in and arrested her there, while another team simultaneously broke open her locked flat in Jhansi late Wednesday night, conducting a nearly four-hour-long search. The raids yielded cash, gold, jewellery and property documents, further strengthening the agency’s case. Bhandari’s husband is an Army colonel, officials confirmed.The case traces back to December 19, when a Central GST team led by Bhandari raided Jai Durga Hardware in Jhoken Bagh, Jhansi, over alleged tax irregularities. Officials indicated that a tax demand of nearly ₹13 crore could be raised against the firm, and several sacks of documents were seized.Investigators allege that soon after, a backdoor deal was offered to pay ₹1.5 crore, and the case would be “settled.” Negotiations were allegedly conducted through advocate Naresh Kumar Gupta with the firm’s proprietor Raju Mangtani. Unknown to the accused, the CBI was already watching.Besides the two GST superintendents, the CBI has arrested Raju Mangtani and advocate Naresh Kumar Gupta. Further searches led to the recovery of another ₹90 lakh, taking the total cash seized to ₹1.6 crore, along with gold, silver and property papers. The CBI has registered the case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and says the investigation is ongoing to uncover possible wider links and the role of other officials.