Days after The Hindu journalist Mahesh Langa and others were arrested in the GST Scam case, the Gujarat Police conducted raids at the Maritime Board office at Gandhinagar, Gujarat’s capital. During the probe by Gandhinagar Police, it emerged that the data of some ports was leaked from the Maritime Board office.
Six teams of Gandhinagar Police are conducting searches at the Maritime Board office and examining the documents after checking the phones of the accused persons, including The Hindu ‘journalist’ Mahesh Langa. It has been reported that that some officers working in the office of the Maritime Board were in touch with the accused and crucial data of private ports was leaked by them.
After the investigation, more arrests are expected in this case in addition to several Maritime Board officers being questioned. It is also likely that the police will seize computer hard drives from the Maritime Board’s office and analyse them.
As reported earlier, some government employees and police officers connected to ‘journalist’ Mahesh Langa of The Hindu were worried following his arrest in the GST scam case due to their involvement with the alleged journalist. Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also got involved in the probe of the multi-crore scandal and the agency is still in the early stages of its investigation.
Mahesh Langa’s connection has also emerged with some government IAS-IPS officers, who used to pass him some sensitive information, which Langa used to deliver to opposition parties and some industrial groups. On 14th October, officials were shocked to learn that Ahmedabad police commissioner G S Malik had personally questioned Langa a day earlier.
Earlier, on 17th October, the ED searched several cities in Gujarat as part of the investigation in the case. According to reports, the raids occurred at roughly 23 locations in the cities of Rajkot, Junagadh, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, and Veraval following the filing of a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
After receiving a complaint from the Central GST regarding the scam involving shell companies set up to defraud the government through fictitious input tax credits and fraudulent transactions, the Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch filed the FIR in the case against a number of individuals and entities.
Over 33 individuals involved in running 12 bogus firms were arrested. In connection with this Rs 200 crore GST scam, the Crime Branch arrested The Hindu ‘journalist’ Mahesh Langa. The police also noted the alleged involvement of Langa’s family in this scam and seized Rs 20 lakh in cash and unaccounted gold from their possession.
