Customs clearing agent held in 175-cr GST refund scam
Mumbai: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) probing the role of a sales tax officer in a Rs 175-crore GST refund scam on Tuesday arrested a customs clearing agent. The sales tax officer in question, Amit Lalge, is on the run.
The ACB arrested Kiran Bhanusali (31), who was hiding since March when the case was registered. Sources said he was arrested when he came to pay the school fees of his son in Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai.
This is the first arrest in the case. Bhanusali was produced before the special ACB court on Wednesday and was remanded in police custody. His interrogations led police to identify the mastermind, Farooq Shaikh, who is currently lodged in jail in connection with another cheating case. Farooq was arrested by the CBI in March this year in a Rs 200-crore cheating case. Police are also looking for their accomplice, Faizan, alias Nadeem.
