Why Was Telangana Congress Leader Arrested for GST Evasion?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Hyderabad, Jan 7 (NationPress) The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has announced the arrest of Telangana Congress leader M. Sunil Kumar due to allegations of GST fraud on Wednesday.
Kumar, who serves as the Managing Director of Orange Passenger Transport Pvt Ltd, along with Chethan N., the Managing Director of Trillion Lead factory, faced arrests for their involvement in GST evasion and a fraudulent ITC racket, respectively.
According to the DGGI’s Hyderabad zonal unit, Sunil Kumar was discovered to have collected a staggering Rs 28.24 crore in Goods and Services Tax (GST) but failed to deposit the funds to the government, even after three months past the due date.
On the other hand, Chethan masterminded a scheme involving fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) totaling Rs 22 crore. Both individuals were apprehended under the provisions of the CGST Act 2017, as stated by the DGGI in a press release.
Officials from the DGGI presented both Sunil Kumar and Chethan before a magistrate at the Nampally Criminal Court complex.
The DGGI has ramped up its enforcement efforts against organized cases of GST evasion. Utilizing specific intelligence gathered through data analytics and inter-agency collaborations, they initiated enforcement actions against the masterminds behind these fraud networks.
The agency emphasized that the arrests were made considering the severity of the crimes, aiming to sustain pressure on the organized tax fraud network.
Sunil Kumar also holds the position of the Congress party's in-charge for the Balkonda Assembly segment in the Nizamabad district.
In the recent 2023 elections, he contested from Balkonda but was defeated by former minister and Bharat Rastra Samithi (BRS) leader Vemula Prashanth Reddy.
A known social activist and philanthropist, Sunil Kumar had previously considered joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but his induction was reportedly opposed by an MP from the party.
In July 2023, he officially joined the Congress party in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Karge and then Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy.