Senior journalist Mahesh Langa from a prominent newspaper in Gujarat was arrested on Tuesday by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch in relation to an alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) scam.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ajit Rajian stated that he was arrested by the Crime Branch after being interrogated comprehensively.
“The central GST had found some suspicious transactions in bogus firms floated in the name of Mahesh Langa’s wife and father using forged documents. Langa has been arrested for further investigation,” he said.
Following a complaint from central GST regarding an alleged scheme involving the floating of fake businesses with the intention of deceiving the government by obtaining false input tax credit through fraudulent transactions, the city Crime Branch filed an official complaint against a number of individuals and entities on Monday.
The Gujarat Economic Offences Wing and the Crime Branch conducted raids at 14 various locations across the state, including Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Surat, Kheda, and Bhavnagar, following the registration of FIR.
“It appears that there is an involvement of over 200 fraudulently created firms working across the country in an organised manner to defraud the government exchequer by availing bogus input tax credit. Forged documents and identities were used for the creation of such firms for tax evasion,” the official statement read.
It stated that a “large group” was attempting to orchestrate a plot to use falsified bills and documents to lead the entire country to suffer financial losses up to crores of rupees.
Dhruvi Enterprise, Om Construction, Raj Infra, Haresh Construction Company, and DA Enterprise are some of the entities listed as the accused in the FIR.
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