CB files charge sheet against five persons in CST-GST fraud case

Five persons were on Tuesday chargesheeted by the Crime Branch of the Jammu and Kashmir police in a case related to the misuse of CST-GST number of a firm and importing goods without the consent of its owner, an official spokesman said.

The case came to light after the victim, Manzoor Ahmed Dar of Malangpora village of Pulwama, lodged a complaint with the Crime Branch Kashmir in 2011, alleging misuse of the CST-GST number of his firm, he said.

The spokesman said the complainant had received a notice from the Sales Tax Department for depositing tax and penalty amounting to over Rs 13.56 lakh.

"The charge sheet was filed against the five accused - Muhammad Yaqoob Zargar, Ghulam Ahmed Dar, Mohammad Mansoor Dar, Shiraz Ahmed Ahanger and Bilal Ahmed Zargar (all residents of Shopian) - in the court of chief judicial magistrate Srinagar," he said.

He said the investigation conducted into the matter has revealed that the complainant obtained CST-GST number in the name of his firm Messrs "Dar General Order Suppliers" at Malangpora from the Sales Tax Department, but due to some unavoidable circumstances he could not carry on his business and did not import any goods from outside the state and as such did not file Income Tax returns.

"The complainant received demand notices from the Sales Tax Department wherein an amount of Rs 13,56,378 was shown outstanding against his GST-CST number as sales tax and interest," the spokesman said.

During the course of investigation, he said, it came to light that the accused persons in league with each other had hatched a criminal conspiracy and misused the CST-GST number of the complainant and imported goods without his consent and knowledge for which the complainant received the notice.

"The CST-GST number of the complainant had been misused in a fraudulent and dishonest manner by the accused," the spokesman said.