Ajit Karn
Friday, the Pune region of the Maharashtra GST department arrested UP businessman Sirajuddin Kamaluddin Chaudhary from Siddartha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh (UP) for fraudulently claiming Rs12.59 crores in input tax credit (ITC) against nearly Rs70.22 crores in fake goods’ purchased bills. On Sunday, the accused was brought to Pune on transit remand and remanded to two weeks of judicial custody by a magisterial court. According to the GST department, Chaudhary is the 68th GST evader to be apprehended in 2022-23. At GST Bhavan, the joint commissioner of state tax for Pune stated that it was an interstate operation involving officials from the GST department, Pune, and the UP police.
The department issued a press release stating, “During the investigation, it was determined that four major suppliers do not exist or are fake, as their GST registrations were obtained fraudulently using forged documents. Multiple investigations were conducted in the cases of these suppliers, and it was determined that Chaudhary unlawfully obtained ITC in the amount of Rs12.59 crores by using fake bills totaling Rs70.22 crores without the actual receipt of goods.
Chaudhary evaded capture and hid in a northern state. To apprehend the perpetrator, a special investigation team (SIT) was formed and dispatched to UP. On March 10, the team, with the assistance of the UP police, located and arrested the suspect. Subsequently, he was transferred to Pune on transit remand issued by the chief judicial magistrate of Siddhartha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. “Upon appearance before the chief judicial magistrate of Pune, the defendant was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody,” stated the press release.
Also read this:Same-sex marriage pleas to be heard by SC Consitution bench from March 18
Additional commissioner of state tax (Pune zone) Dhananjay Akhade, joint commissioner of state tax (Pune 2) Deepak Bhandare, and deputy commissioner of state tax Manisha Gopale-Bhoir oversaw the operation, which was led by assistant commissioners of state tax Sachin Sangle, Dattatraya Telang, Satish Lanke, and Satish Patil, along with state tax inspectors and other team members.
