Wednesday, March 9 2005 17:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Twenty-eight employees of the Sales Tax Department, including ten officers, were today (Mar 9, 2005) suspended after a TV channel aired tapes purportedly showing them accepting bribe.

Four Sales Tax Officers, six Assistant Sales Tax Officers and 18 clerical level staff, including 16 Upper Division Clerks, who were identified in the tapes, had been suspended pending inquiry, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.

FIRs had also been lodged against the officers, she added.

'Aaj Tak' channel had yesterday aired tapes purportedly recorded by a hidden camera, which showed 82 employees of the department, accepting bribe for registration of companies and issuing C-Forms, which are essential for inter-State trading and assessment of sales tax.

Dikshit said that the Sales Tax department had also been directed to identify lower-level staff seen in the tapes and take action against them.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau carried out raids on the premises of five of the suspended employees this morning, Finance Minister A K Walia said.

While he did not divulge whether any seizures were made today, he said raids would continue.

Dikshit also announced that her Government planned to install closed-circuit television in all departments where the public had to interact with officials.