Bogus billing kingpin held, ran racket for 20 yrs
Arrested from Mandi Gobindgarh in Punjab; total bogus billing through the firms the gang operated is expected to be over Rs 200 cr
FATEHGARH SAHIB : The investigation wing of Punjab State GST arrested Balwinder Singh (alias Babu Ram), of Mandi Gobindgarh, on Wednesday for creating and operating bogus firms across several states, including Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan.
Balwinder is also accused of availing and passing on fraudulent Income Tax Credit (ITC) to the tune of Rs 9 crore to firms, without paying tax due to the government.
Additional excise and taxation commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray, who is heading the special data cell that deals in and cracks such cases, said Babu Ram was active in bogus billing for the 20 years, going back to times when VAT was charged.
“It is shocking that he opened many companies in Rajasthan and other states to exploit loopholes, when others were just planning to comply with the GST norms. Babu Ram is kingpin of rackets in which passers are operating to avoid tax,” Parray added.
He said that an authorisation for arrest of Balwinder Singh and his son Prince Dhiman were issued by Commissioner
State Tax under section 69 of the GST act for violation of section 132 (1) (a), (b) & (c), as tax theft was above Rs 15 crore.
Search and seizure operations were conducted at multiple locations, including the residence of the accused, to gather evidence for establishing the modus operandi. This involved creating firms dealing in iron scrap and finished good in states outside Punjab.
Later, there were passed on to other firms created in own name or names of others and family members before ending up with beneficiaries in Punjab.
Parray added the department was alerted about the accused last year after a firm (Suvidha Enterprises) was found to be non-existent at their place of business. The jurisdictional officer had then suo motu cancelled the firm.
Investigation led to four more firms created by the accused with one each in Delhi and Rajasthan which had done a total bogus billing of Rs 125 crore and duped the government exchequer of due tax of Rs 15 crore.
A vehicle carrying iron scrap was also intercepted by the enforcement officers of the State GST and vital clues have merged leading to a second network of about 30 firms that the accused operated.
Total bogus billing through the firms operated by the fatherson duo is expected to be more than Rs 200 crore.
A court in Fatehgarh Sahib remanded the accused to judicial custody for 14 days. Efforts are on to arrest the second accused and further investigation is in progress, said GST officials.
The coronavirus scare was everywhere, the fear was palpable, playgrounds were empty, and streets wore a deserted look. It was a week since the lockdown when I decided to spring clean the house. It was more out of necessity than choice without the domestic help.
While cleaning one of the drawers, I chanced upon a bundle of letters, tied neatly with a red satin ribbon. As I opened the ribbon, a wave of memories, spanning decades, came flooding back. It was as if a movie was being played in flashback and I was a mute spectator.
The letters dated back to the ’80s when I met Harjeet, a dashing doctor in the army, and I was a senior resident in the gynaecology department. Back then, letters were the only form of communication and indeed they communicated romantic feelings much better than WhatsApp and Facebook used by today’s generation. Harjeet is adept at expressing his feelings in words and as I sifted through the letters even the faint scent was nostalgic. The first birthday card after going steady; the fun was in choosing the card from the neatly lined up ones at the bookshop, browsing through them and then penning down the feelings.
The joy of getting a handwritten letter that came through the post reflected the thought and effort taken by the person and how much they cared for you. As I reminisced while holding on to one letter, gently feeling the creases between my fingers, I realised that perhaps my children will never experience this feeling.
No doubt the new world technology has provided wonderful ways of communication, but it has also snatched away the beautiful art of letter writing and conversation. The joy of receiving a letter from home after shifting to hostel is still fresh in the mind. I could even see the dried tear drops on it. It used to be thrilling to get a letter with your name being announced in the evening roll call and one would proudly receive the letter as if receiving a medal, much to the envy of the other girls!
The wonderful letters written by my father, who was in the army, while being posted to the forward areas are also fresh in my mind. They would take weeks to reach, with a censor stamp during the wars, and how we would wait for them!
The art, and joy, of letter writing was taught to me by my grandfather, who was a school principal, and polished by my English teacher in Dehradun.
I’m not against new technology and certainly don’t want to go back to the trunk call era when we used to wait for hours after booking a call only to be interrupted by the operator that the time was up. But I do lament the fact that today vocabulary has been reduced to texting abbreviations, emojis and internet acronyms.
THE JOY OF RECEIVING A LETTER FROM HOME AFTER SHIFTING TO HOSTEL IS STILL FRESH IN THE MIND. I COULD EVEN SEE THE DRIED TEAR DROPS ON IT