Maharashtra: Two booked for selling stolen trucks in Navi Mumbai

Two unidentified persons were booked for registering two stolen trucks using bogus documents in Maharashtra`s Navi Mumbai and then selling them, a police official said on Friday, reported the PTI.

A case was registered on the complaint of the motor vehicle theft detection squad, said the APMC police station official.

“They are accused of cheating the original owners of the trucks, the firms that insured the vehicles, the buyers and the government,” he said.

In an another incident, the police in Maharashtra`s Thane district have seized banned gutka and tobacco products valued at about Rs 8 lakh, an official said on Friday, as per the PTI.

Acting on a tip-off, the Shanti Nagar police in Bhiwandi area raided a paan stall on Wednesday and found it to be storing and selling gutka and tobacco products that are prohibited in the state over public health concerns.

The seized items are valued at Rs 7.77 lakh, he said, adding that an FIR has been registered against Farman Ahmad Manzoor Ansari (24), who was operating the stall, and three more individuals.

Meanwhile, the Central GST authorities have busted a racket here that was used to fraudulently claim input tax credit (ITC) worth about Rs 25 crore with the help of fake companies and bogus invoices, an official said on Friday, according to the PTI.

The fraud came to light after CGST`s Palghar commissionerate (Mumbai zone) in Maharashtra initiated a probe against a certain Hacnup Trading (OPC) Private Limited and found it to be non-existent, he said.

Company director Nilesh B Shah told authorities that he had created it and many other bogus firms for GST (Goods and Services Tax) frauds on the instructions of Kiran Kantharia and Manish Shah.

It was found that the fake firms created by Kantharia had passed on ineligible ITC of Rs 11.02 crore and availed ITC of Rs 14.7 crore using bogus invoices without the supply of goods or services.

Input tax credit is the GST paid by a registered person or company on the purchase of goods or services that are used as inputs in the business. ITC can be reduced from the GST payable on sales by the entity after fulfilling certain conditions.

Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, Kantharia was arrested under the CGST Act, the official said. 

(with PTI inputs)