2 arrested for GST Evasion in Multi-Crore Brick Trade:

2 arrested for GST Evasion in Multi-Crore Brick Trade Sambhal Police and GST officials have uncovered a large-scale GST evasion racket consisting of bogus companies and fraudulent invoicing in the trade. Regarding the fraud, two individuals have been arrested. However, further investigation is ongoing for the remaining members associated with the racket. According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Krishna Kumar Bishnoi, the accused ran a planned tax fraud by setting up fake companies in the Sambhal Kotwali area. Over the past 3 to 4 years, they used more than 2,000 trucks to move goods from local brick kilns to different places in Uttarakhand, like Kashipur. SP Bishnoi stated, "The gang loaded bricks worth Rs. 1.25 to Rs. 1.5 lakh per truck and generated fake invoices of under Rs 50,000 to avoid paying GST." "This allowed them to evade tax at three levels - production, transportation and final delivery." The main people behind the operation have been identified as Kapil Singhal, who is believed to be the mastermind, and Vikas Sharma, his close partner and middleman. Two others, Danish and Zeeshan, were arrested for helping carry out the fake billing and transport work. Officials said the group created many fake companies with different names to avoid getting caught. They used these fake firms to make the goods transport look legal on paper while avoiding paying GST. Danish and Zeeshan have been sent to jail by the court. Officials have collected some early evidence, and teams are now looking through digital records and money trails to find others involved and figure out how much tax was avoided. SP Bishnoi further added, "The crackdown is a part of our ongoing efforts to curb tax fraud in high-risk sectors. We are coordinating with GST intelligence teams and other agencies to dismantle the entire network."