The case pertains to illegal sale of gutka which was banned in Tamil Nadu (Representational)
The CBI carried out searches at the Delhi residence of the Deputy Director General of Competition Commission of India (CCI) in connection with the Tamil Nadu gutka scam, officials said yesterday.
The searches were conducted at the East Delhi residence of Ravi Chandran, the CCI Deputy Director General who was earlier posted as Senior Intelligence Officer at the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) in Chennai, they said.
The agency has carried out searches after getting inputs about his suspected role in the scam as a DGCEI officer during 2013-15, they said.
The agency also questioned S Sridhar, the then Assistant Commissioner at DGCEI whose premises were searched on Thursday, they said.
Additional Commissioner of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Senthil Valavan, whose premises was also searched on Thursday, has been summoned by the agency to join the investigation, they said.
The scam came to light on July 8, 2017, when income tax sleuths raided the godown, offices and residences of a pan masala and gutka (a concoction of tobacco and pan masala) manufacturer in Tamil Nadu, who had been facing charges of tax evasion to the tune of Rs 250 crore.
The manufacture, storage and sale of the chewable forms of tobacco, including gutka and pan masala were banned by the Tamil Nadu government in 2013.