CHENNAI: The anti-corruption branch (ACB) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested an IRS officer on charges of taking 8 lakh as bribe to prepare a favourable report for a chartered accounting firm. The CBI team also arrested the charted accountant and launched a search for two others.

Following a tip, the CBI team chased and intercepted the car of Sallong Yaden , joint commissioner of income tax, who handled range-VI, when he was nearing his house on Bazullah Road in T Nagar on Saturday evening. Chartered accountant Shreyans Bhandari was also in the car. They found 8 lakh with the officer who could not disclose the source of the money. Bhandari was taken to the CBI office for further questioning.

The CBI team brought Yaden to his office on the fourth floor at the annexe building of Ayakar Bhavan on Nungambakkam High Road. Yaden owns houses in Assam and Kolkata, apart from a couple of houses in Chennai, an officer said. The CBI team conducted raids at nine places in Chennai and other states.

An officer said several documents, computers, laptops, cell phones, cash, gold jewellery and silver bars were recovered from his places. The searches are on.

Shreyans Bhandari, along with Sanjay Bhandari, ran S H Bhandari and Co chartered accounting firm in Chennai. They approached the income tax officer through a common friend, Hitesh Kawad, who is the managing director of SPR and RG Constructions in the city. The chartered accounting firm wanted the income tax officer to give a favourable report on an income tax search conducted at a private company in the city recently.

CBI has registered a case vide RC 1(A)/15 u/s.120-B IPC r/w 7, 12, 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of PC Act, 1988 against Yaden and three others. A CBI team is searching for two others in the case. Yaden and Bhandari were sent to Puzhal prison.