GST scam: Noida police books 33 under Gangsters Act

Noida, Jun 3 (PTI) Noida police on Monday invoked the stringent Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against 33 accused in the multi-crore GST scam.

So far, a total of 45 people have been arrested in connection with the case.

Known as the GST scam, the case came to light in June 2023 and pertains to revenue loss to the exchequer through input tax credit being claimed by thousands of bogus companies floated using forged documents, officials said.

"The Gangsters Act has been invoked in the GST fraud case, which is lodged at Sector 20 police station. Action is being taken against 33 charge sheeted accused. The charges have been invoked under provisions 2/3 of the Gangsters Act," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said.

"In future, action of property attachment will be taken against the accused," Avasthy, one of the key investigators in the case, said.

Those booked include gang leader Deepak Murjani (46), gang members -- Ashwani Pandey (25), Yasin Sheikh (38), Rajiv Jindal (38), Vishal Singh (22), Akash Saini (21), Atul Sengar (23), Vineeta (44) wife of Deepak Murjani, Gaurav Singhal (46).

Other members are Gurmeet Singh Batra (30), Rajiv Maheshwari (33), Rahul Gupta (36), Atul Gupta (28), Sumit Garg (38), Manan Singal (36), Ajay Agarwal (41), Amit(35), Mahesh (20), Pritam Garg (35), Rohit alias Jatin (21), Dolci (23) daughter of Deepak Murjani, Nandkishore (45) Ashish Elawadi (26), Praveen Kumar (39), Rakesh Diyalani (47), Rahul Nigam (29), Piyush Kumar Gupta (36), Dilip Sharma (29), Anchit Goel (40), Archit alias Arjit Goel (38), Pradeep Goyal (38), Rohit Nagpal (36), Baldev alias Balli (45) are also a part of the gang, police said.

Police investigations showed the involvement of hundreds of bogus firms and transactions of around Rs 10,000 crore from them, and so far over two dozen people have been arrested in the case, according to officials involved in the probe.

The police said an FIR in connection with the case was lodged at the Sector 20 police station of Noida under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 467, 468, 471 (all related to forgery) and 120B (party to criminal conspiracy).

The case had come to light in 2023 after thugs had applied for registration of bogus companies by fraudulently using the PAN details of a journalist and registered two firms -- one in Punjab and one in Maharashtra -- while a request for a third in Delhi was rejected by the GST authorities. PTI KIS RHL