CBI Court Jails Former Customs Inspector, Associate in ₹32 Crore Fraud Case
New Delhi/Visakhapatnam, Sept 16 — In a major conviction, the CBI Court in Visakhapatnam on Monday sentenced a former Central Excise & Customs Inspector and a private individual to five years in prison for orchestrating a ₹32.28 crore excise and customs duty fraud nearly two decades ago.
The court found Kalaka Ramdas, then Inspector of Central Excise & Customs at Srikakulam Range (later promoted as Superintendent, Customs & Central Excise, Visakhapatnam), and Polaki Janakiram of Srikakulam district, guilty of criminal conspiracy and large-scale duty evasion.
A private firm, M/s Sri Balaji General Trading Company, represented by Janakiram, was also convicted.
Along with the jail term, fines of ₹1.01 lakh, ₹2.51 lakh, and ₹2.01 lakh were imposed on Ramdas, Janakiram, and the company respectively — a total penalty of ₹5.53 lakh.
According to the CBI, Janakiram, impersonating one Palla Kesava Rao, fraudulently set up the firm and obtained trading licenses, an Import-Export Code, and warehousing station approval by forging documents.
He then procured duty-free materials from firms in Maligaon and diverted them through fraudulent “deemed exports” to Mumbai-based firms, all in violation of EXIM policy.
The conspiracy was allegedly executed in collusion with Inspector Ramdas, resulting in a loss of ₹32.28 crore to the exchequer.
The case was registered in 2005, and a chargesheet was filed in 2008.
After years of trial, the court convicted the accused, who were immediately taken into custody and shifted to Central Prison, Visakhapatnam.