Journalist arrested in GST Scam case now charged for ‘Possession of Confidential Files’

A Senior Assistant Editor of The Hindu namely Mahesh Langa, who has been currently in judicial custody in a case of alleged involvement in GST evasion since October 8, has now been charged for possession of confidential documents related to the Gujarat Maritime Board, as per the report.

Gandhinagar police notified that the documents were recovered from the possession of Langa following his arrest in the GST case. On the basis of the report, the police did not disclose the sections under which Langa was booked. The police filed an FIR at the Sector 7 police Station and allegedly searched the GMB office.

During that time, the Ahmedabad police arrested five Bhavnagar residents in the GST evasion case, “in what is being called a nationwide racket of evading GST by a group of 220 shell companies, most of them are Gujarat-based companies”.

The five individuals arrested are Adil Kadar Khokhar, Kadar alias Navdi Rafiqbhai Khokhar, Akil Anubhai Pathan, Shahrukh Rafiqbhai Rangrej, and Sarfaraz Mustufa Chauhan. So far, at least 13 businesses and their owners have been charged and arrested in the case.

Langa had already petitioned the Gujarat High Court to overturn his 10-day police remand, alleging it “politically motivated”. However, he withdrew his plea on October 14.