New Delhi, Apr 6 (IANS): A special CBI court in Karnataka's Dharwad has sentenced two former Income Tax officials to four years rigorous imprisonment in a bribery case.

A fine of Rs 1,10,000 each was also imposed on the officials, identified as Abhishek Tripathi and Alok Tiwari.

The CBI registered the case against the income Tax officials on the allegations of demanding illegal gratification from the a man for dropping prosecution proceedings initiated under Section 276-B of IT Act.

Tripathi, who was working as Income Tax Officer, TDS, in Belgavi had demanded Rs four lakh as bribe from the man when he came to the IT office to enquire about the show cause notice issued in 2015 to his company for the default of belated tax remittance.

The bribe was later reduced to Rs 2.5 lakh and Tripathi instructed the complainant to pay the amount to his colleague Tiwari who in turn instructed to hand over the bribe to a private person.

The CBI laid a trap and caught the private person while accepting the bribe on behalf of the officials.

After investigation, a charge sheet was filed against the accused. The trial court convicted both the officials and acquitted the private person.