Rajkot: Senior journalist Mahesh Langa of The Hindu newspaper, who is currently incarcerated in Sabarmati jail, was arrested by Rajkot police on Friday after his involvement emerged in the ongoing GST fraud investigation.

A team from the Rajkot crime branch took Langa into custody at Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad on Friday and brought him to Rajkot for further questioning, according to S.N. Jadeja, Police Inspector and Investigation Officer.

Last month, the police filed a case against 15 companies, including D A Enterprise, for claiming fraudulent input tax credits (ITC), which resulted in significant financial losses for the government. According to the FIR, these firms and their owners conspired to claim bogus ITC by using fake invoices and documents, leading to a ₹61.38 lakh loss to the government.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Parthrajsinh Gohil stated, “The investigation has revealed that Langa was operating D A Enterprise, which played a role in the fraud. Based on the evidence we have gathered, Langa was arrested.”

The complaint, filed by Jay Prakash Singh, Superintendent of CGST’s anti-evasion unit in Rajkot, named a total of 29 individuals, 12 of whom had already been arrested.

The complaint also highlighted that Parmar Vishalbhai Pravinbhai had registered a firm, Parmar Enterprise, with GST using a fake rent agreement, which was later found to be forged. The registration was canceled in June 2023. Data analysis suggested that this firm was involved in receiving and transferring ITC by issuing fake invoices without the actual supply of goods. DeshGujarat