GST Vigilance Bureau detects fake billing racket at Baddi

Solan, July 22

After the arrest of two persons, a team of GST Vigilance Bureau has unearthed a racket of fake billing of Rs 950 crore at the industrial hub Baddi in Solan district.

Reliable sources in bureau informed that the case was being considered as a big success towards unmasking of a fake billing racket to avade tax in the state. The team members have also booked two persons in this connection. The sources revealed that the investigation is on to find out the further involvement of other persons and to detect that as how the fake billing racket was being carried out.

Harvinder Pal Singh, Deputy Director, GST Vigilance Bureau Shimla Zone said that the bureau has arrested Prateek Garg and Akshat Bansal alias Monu in this case. He said that both of them used to make fake bills and register Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the name of daily wagers and rickshaw pullers.

He said that after receiving the information, a team was constituted that carried out the raids on eight places in Himachal and Delhi and unearthed the case of fake billing, yesterday. Both the alleged accused persons were residents of Delhi. He further said that the alleged accused are also involved in hawala business. However, more evidences are being gathered . Earlier, the Directorate of GST Vigilance Chandigarh had raided many places in Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab.

Notably, that this was not an isolated case of fake billing , earlier the investigating agencies have received similar information concerning the carrying out of fake billing rackets in Badd- Barotiwala- Nalagarh (BBN) industrial belts and parts of the country. After this the team of Directorate of GST, under the leadership of Additional Director General, raided various steel and iron industries of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and searched the records. Deputy Director Harvinder Pal said that its mastermind was Sahil Garg of Mandi Gobindgarh, who was arrested a few months ago. Now he is in judicial custody. In the action taken now, the team of Vigilance Bureau unmasked the case of fake billing of 750 crores a few months ago in which accused Sahil Garg was arrested.