Rickshaw puller approaches cops after receiving Rs 3-crore IT notice

The rickshaw puller approached the police on Sunday after he received the IT department's notice

A rickshaw puller approached the police in this Uttar Pradesh district on Sunday after he was served a notice by the Income Tax (IT) department, asking him to pay over Rs 3 crore.

Pratap Singh, a resident of Amar Colony in the Bakalpur area here, submitted a complaint at the Highway police station, claiming fraud, after he received the notice from the IT department.

Station House Office (SHO) Anuj Kumar said no case was registered on the basis of Singh's complaint but the police will look into the matter.

Meanwhile, Singh uploaded a video clip on the social media in which he narrated the sequence of events.

He said on March 15, he applied for a PAN card at the Jan Suvidha Kendra in Bakalpur, owned by Tej Prakash Upadhyay, as his bank had asked him to submit it.

Subsequently, he got a coloured photocopy of the PAN card from one Sanjai Singh (mobile no. 9897762706) of Bakalpur.

Since he is illiterate, he could not differentiate between an original PAN card and a coloured photocopy of the same, the rickshaw puller said in the clip.

He had to run from pillar to post for about three months to get his PAN card.

Singh said he got a call from IT officials on October 19 and was served a notice, asking him to pay Rs 3,47,54,896.

He said the officials told him that someone had impersonated him and obtained a GST number on his name for running a business and the turnover of the trader for 2018-19 was Rs 43,44,36,201.

Singh said he was advised by the IT officials to get an FIR lodged as somebody had committed fraud impersonating him.