Mahesh Langa, a senior assistant editor at The Hindu, was arrested by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Tuesday in connection with an alleged GST scam. Langa, has reported on Gujarat for two decades, focusing on political and social issues, in the state.
An FIR was filed on Monday against 13 individuals and entities, including DA Enterprises, which is reportedly owned by Langa’s brother, Langa Manojkumar Rambhai. The firm is accused of being part of a network of around 200 entities that attempted to evade tax obligations through fraudulent transactions.
The case arose from data mining inputs provided by Himanshu Joshi, a senior intelligence officer with the Directorate General of GST Intelligence in Ahmedabad. Following the FIR, multiple raids were conducted by crime branch, SOG, and EOW teams at 14 locations throughout Gujarat, including Ahmedabad and Surat.
Bogus input tax credit transfers
The FIR alleges that a shell company named Dhruvi Enterprise secured GST registration via a forged rent agreement and engaged in bogus input tax credit transfers through fake invoices without supplying actual goods or services.
Input tax credit allows registered entities to offset GST liabilities on their supplied goods or services. The investigation revealed that several firms across India were reportedly using the same PAN as Dhruvi Enterprise, with the accumulated input tax credit being passed to 12 “active firms.”
Mahesh Langa under investigation
A network of approximately 200 fraudulent firms is reportedly operating across the country to deceive the government by claiming and transferring bogus input tax credits.
Regarding Langa, DCP (crime) Ajit Rajian informed media that documents linked to Langa’s wife, Kavita, were discovered, but she has not been implicated in the FIR since she was found to have no involvement in the operations. Reports suggest that Langa was allegedly using the firm for fraudulent purposes and is currently under investigation. Langa’s brother has also not been arrested.
Mahesh Langa and others in FIR
The police have asserted that a large group is engaged in a criminal conspiracy causing substantial financial losses to the nation, potentially amounting to crores, through fake billing, forged documents, and misrepresentation of facts.
In his report to an assistant commissioner of police, Joshi indicated that data mining revealed that Dhruvi Enterprise was involved in receiving and transferring bogus GST input tax credits. In addition to DA Enterprises, other firms named in the FIR include Raj Infra, Haresh Construction Company, and Om Construction.
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