Court denies bail to two suspects in ITC scam

Aurangabad, July 1:

Sameer Renukadas Chaudhary and Manoj Vyas, who allegedly defrauded the government by creating fake bills of Rs 67 crore of sale of aluminum scrap and claimed input tax credit of Rs 12 crore, were denied regular bail by judicial magistrate MM Mali on Friday.

The Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax department (SGST) launched an aggressive campaign against tax evasion. As part of the operation, two aluminum scrap dealers in Aurangabad were raided on Thursday. Chaudhary, owner of SR Metal and Vyas, owner of Doors World, were arrested. The investigation revealed that the fake e-way bill was made without any transportation of goods.

A further investigation revealed that both had claimed an input tax credit of Rs 12 crore by creating fake bills. The two arrested accused have been remanded in judicial custody. Both had applied for regular bail. The court rejected their bail plea. Public prosecutor Zarina Durrani represented the government.