Noida Police make four more arrests in GST fraud case

According to Shakti Avasthy, additional deputy commissioner of police in Noida, the recent arrest of four additional suspects brings the total number of arrests in the case to 12

The Gautam Budh Nagar police have arrested four more suspects in connection with an alleged ₹10,000 crore GST fraud that was recently uncovered, police said.

Two of the suspects were found in possession of 21 sim cards and a biometric machine, police said. (Representative image)

The suspects were arrested in Sector 16, Rohini, and were allegedly involved in providing sim cards and fake invoice bills to the gang, officials aware of the matter said.

On June 1, the police claimed to have busted a gang suspected of orchestrating a ₹10,000 crore GST fraud scheme. The operation involved registering thousands of companies under stolen or fake identities and utilizing these firms to generate e-way bills and obtain input tax credit (ITC) from the government. Police arrested eight suspects and exposed 2,660 fake companies during the investigation.

According to Shakti Avasthy, additional deputy commissioner of police in Noida, the recent arrest of four additional suspects brings the total number of arrests in the case to 12. The suspects have been identified as Gaurav Singhal,(16), and Gurmeet Singh,(26), both residents of Delhi, while Rajeev,(33), and Rahul Gupta,(36), reside in Gautam Budh Nagar.

“Following the initial arrest of eight suspects who were taken into police custody for questioning, Gaurav and Gurmeet’s names were revealed during detailed interrogations. Subsequently, a team was dispatched to Rohini, where the two suspects were arrested. Upon their arrest, a cash counting machine, 18 fake invoices, 11 Aadhar cards, GST registration certificates, pan cards, and two cars were recovered from their possession. During questioning, they implicated Rahul and Rajeev as members of the gang, who were later arrested in Phase 2, Noida,” said the ADCP.

Rahul and Rajeev were found in possession of 21 sim cards and a biometric machine, police said.

Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Rajneesh Verma said that Rajeev engaged in fraudulent activation of sim cards. “Rajeev operated a shop in Phase 2, Noida, where he sold sim cards. When customers visited his shop to purchase a sim card, he deceitfully took their biometric thumb impression twice, allowing him to activate sim cards using other people’s identities. He would then sell these activated sim cards to Rahul for ₹500 each,” said Verma.

The ACP further said that Rahul would acquire sim cards according to demand and sell them to his team members, who created counterfeit GST firms.

ADCP Avasthy added that Gaurav and Gurmeet purchased the fake firms created by the gang arrested on June 1. “Gaurav and Gurmeet would acquire these fake GST firms and use them to generate false invoices for e-way bills. Subsequently, they sold these bills to individuals or companies seeking to evade taxes, earning a substantial commission,” said the ADCP.

Further investigation into the case is currently underway.

“The four suspects have been charged under sections of cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy of the Indian Penal Code. They were presented before a magistrate and subsequently sent to judicial custody on Saturday,” the officer said.