The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) caught a Central GST officer, Mohammad Rizwan Sheikh, red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.25 lakh on Thursday. Sheikh, a superintendent at the CGST Audit department in Ahmedabad, was arrested alongside Inspector Kuldeep Mulchand Kushwaha and a middleman, Bhumikbhai Bharatbhai Soni.
The arrests followed a complaint made to the ACB's toll-free number 1064, alleging that the officials had demanded a bribe to settle a purported error found in the 2019-20 financial accounts. The officials claimed a penalty was due and requested the bribe to resolve the matter. The ACB swiftly acted on the complaint, apprehending the trio during the exchange, highlighting their commitment to rooting out corruption in government departments.
In a separate case, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested journalist Mahesh Langa in connection with an alleged GST fraud case. An FIR was filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including charges of cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. The investigation, led by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), revealed a network of nearly 200 fraudulent firms, including DA Enterprises, allegedly run by Langa's brother, Manojkumar Rambhai Langa. This network was involved in large-scale GST evasion, passing bogus input tax credits, causing substantial losses to the government.
These cases underscore Gujarat's intensified efforts to combat corruption and fraudulent activities, particularly within government departments and GST-related operations.
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