Journalist Mahesh Langa was arrested by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in a Goods and Service Tax-related scam, reported PTI.
Langa is a journalist with The Hindu in Ahmedabad.
His arrest came after the Crime Branch, Economic Offences Wing and Special Operations Group raided 14 locations across Gujarat on Monday.
This came on a complaint by the Central Goods and Services Tax department, according to a press release by the Crime Branch.
The complaint pertains to an alleged scam in which several bogus companies are said to have been floated to “defraud the government exchequer by availing bogus input tax credit”, said the release.
“Usage of forged documents and identities for creation of such firms, with intent to orchestrate evasion of duty by adopting fraudulent means, has also been observed,” it added.
Ajit Rajian, deputy commissioner of police at the Ahmedabad Crime Branch, told the Hindustan Times that Langa’s wife had been named as the promoter of one such bogus firm suspected of creating fake bills.
“When we questioned the journalist’s wife, she denied knowing anything about it and said it was her husband who managed everything,” Raijan said, according to the newspaper.
The deputy commissioner claimed that unaccounted cash worth Rs 20 lakh and some land records were found at Langa’s home.
Among the companies named in the first information report registered in the case are Dhruvi Enterprise, Om Construction, Raj Infra, Haresh Construction Company and DA Enterprise, according to PTI.
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