Rs 45cr GST evasion racket busted; kingpin held, 100 shell firms used

Bijnor: Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has unearthed a Rs 45 crore GST evasion racket operated through over 100 shell companies and caught its alleged kingpin, Mohd Zahid, in Delhi's Jagatpur on Wednesday. With Zahid in custody, the total number of accused in the case has risen to six, including five held in June last year.STF Meerut unit ASP Brajesh Kumar said the gang used identity documents of unemployed people to set up fake firms and generate bogus invoices to evade GST. Zahid had been absconding since last year.The scam surfaced after Ashwani Kumar, a resident of the Khatauli police station area in Muzaffarnagar, received a GST notice. He alleged that his Aadhaar, PAN and other documents were obtained via a messaging app on the pretext of employment and used to register a fake firm, AK Traders, which issued bogus bills worth Rs 248 crore and claimed Rs 45 crore in GST. A case was registered in 2024 under relevant provisions of the BNS and the IT Act.STF investigations revealed that the gang collected documents from job-seekers by promising jobs or loans, paid Rs 10,000 per bank account, and used the accounts, SIMs and IDs to create fake GST entities nationwide. Zahid told investigators the gang had been active for four years. Earlier arrests included Ratanaram, Omprakash, Hanuman, Budh Ram and Santosh Kumar from Bengaluru.In a separate crackdown, Bijnor police busted another fake GST firm racket, arresting four accused, while three others, including the gang leader, remain absconding. Police said forged identity documents, records of 30 firms and mobile phones were seized.