Mahesh Langa multi-crore GST fraud: The Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested a Gujarat-based journalist at The Hindu along with three others in an alleged Goods and Service Tax (GST) scam.

This development came a day after 13 firms and their proprietors were booked based on a complaint filed by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).

Following detailed questioning, journalist Mahesh Langa was arrested by the Crime Branch on Tuesday morning, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ajit Rajian said, PTI reported.

“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 added.

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Rajian further added, “We have recovered Rs 20 lakh unaccounted cash, some gold and several land documents from him.”

On Monday, the city Crime Branch registered an FIR against several persons and entities after getting a complaint from central GST over an alleged scam of floating bogus firms with an intent to defraud the government by availing bogus input tax credit through fraudulent transactions, a release by the Crime Branch said.

According to the FIR, over 220 shell companies were created using forged documents and were part of the scheme, as reported by IE.

After registration of the FIR, the Crime Branch along with Gujarat’s Economic Offences Wing raided 14 different locations across the state including in Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Surat, Kheda and Bhavnagar.

While Langa is not named in the FIR, his cousin Manojkumar Langa is named as one of the proprietors of an Ahmedabad-based firm, DA Enterprise, in which Mahesh Langa’s wife is a partner, the police have alleged. Neither Langa’s cousin nor his wife has been arrested so far, IE reported.

Other people accused in the case are Talala BJP MLA Bhagwan Barad’s son Ajay, and his nephews Vijaykumar Kalabhai Barad and Ramesh Kalabhai Barad. Meanwhile, some of the entities named as accused in the FIR include Dhruvi Enterprise, Om Construction, Raj Infra, Haresh Construction Company and DA Enterprise.

According to the FIR, the alleged fraud is said to have been committed between February 1 and May 1 last year. According to the FIR and police officers, the prime accused in the case is a firm called Dhruvi Enterprise, which allegedly created six firms from a single PAN. The aim was to avail ITC by showing transactions that were never actually done, police said.

Ahmedabad city Commissioner of Police Gyanender Singh Malik claimed “(Mahesh Langa’s) wife is a director in one of the firms involved in the GST fraud”. “However, when the Crime Branch questioned her, she said she did not know anything about any such company or her name being used in it. The police then questioned Mahesh Langa and found that he was the one who was handling the entire firm,” he alleged, according to an Indian Express report.

On Mahesh Langa’s name not figuring in the FIR, he said, “Just because his name is not there in the FIR does not mean Mahesh Langa is not an accused. His role in one of the companies came out during the investigation, which is why he was placed under arrest by the Crime Branch.”

The Crime Branch also arrested Aijaz, a resident of Bhavnagar and a partner in a company that sells electric panel boards; Abdulkader, another Bhavnagar resident involved in selling sugarcane juice, ready-made clothes, and mattresses; and Jyotish Magan Gondaliya, a Surat resident who co-owns a business with his wife.

(With inputs from PTI)