Thu Oct 24 16:11:57 UTC 2024: Updated – October 24, 2024 09:42 pm IST – New DelhiA city court in Ahmedabad on Thursday (October 24, 2024) reserved judgment in a bail application filed by The Hindu’s correspondent Mahesh Langa, who was arrested on October 8 in an alleged GST scam.
The court is likely to pronounce the verdict on Friday (October 25, 2024).
The seizure memo prepared by the police does not mention the phone being used by Mr. Langa among the recovered items, said Vedanta Rajguru, his counsel.“We conveyed to the court that Mr. Langa’s phone is not listed among the items seized from his residence, the police did not respond to this aspect. The ₹20 lakh that they claimed to have recovered from Mr. Langa’s home is also not mentioned in the seizure memo, however police told the court that it was recorded orally during panchnama,” Mr. Rajguru said.
The seizure memo says that the police recovered two laptops and a desktop, an iPhone, a pen drive, tax returns of Mr. Langa and his wife, documents pertaining to Kalol taluk, ₹1.8 lakh, a 2022 phone directory containing the phone numbers of IAS officers and a spiral-bound manuscript of Christophe Jaffrelot’s book Gujarat Under Modi. The phone and laptops seized from the residence were being used by Mr. Langa’s wife and their children.
A family member said that three phones belonging to others in the family are also in police custody and they have not been returned yet.
Meanwhile, the Gandhinagar Police registered another case against Mr. Langa based on a complaint by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).
The case has been filed under various Sections of theft, criminal conspiracy, cheating and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police (SP) Ravi Teja Vasamsetty said the case was filed after the Ahmedabad Crime Branch, probing the GST case, informed the GMB about sensitive documents being seized from Mr. Langa’s residence. Following this, the GMB filed a case with the Gandhinagar Police alleging leakage of confidential documents in connivance with its staff.
The said documents are not mentioned in the seizure memo prepared by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch.
The GST scam FIR states that the alleged fraud was committed between February 1 and May 1, 2023 and the prime accused is Dhruvi Enterprise, which allegedly created six firms from a single PAN to transfer and receive bogus input tax credit of GST to unscrupulous recipients by issuance of fake invoices without the supply of goods. DA Enterprise is one of the companies mentioned in the FIR. The company is owned by Manoj Langa, a relative of Mr. Mahesh Langa whose wife is a silent partner with no transaction rights or access to bank accounts. Mr. Mahesh Langa was arrested on the basis of Mr. Manoj Langa’s statement.
Published – October 24, 2024 09:41 pm IST
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