What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
New Delhi: Shahnawaz Hussain, the alleged mastermind behind an illicit timber trade operation, now faces a comprehensive 3,500-page charge sheet filed by the Special Investigation Bureau of Uttarakhand’s GST department.
The charge sheet, submitted in the court of Rudrapur Chief Judicial Magistrate, outlines the blue map of illegal activities committed by Hussain’s gang, which reportedly conducted timber trade through counterfeit companies and forged bills, resulting in significant tax evasion running into crores of rupees.
Hussain, apprehended on October 22, is accused of planning a scheme that duped the state of substantial revenue. The investigators have calculated an estimated GST theft surpassing ₹18 crore linked to a timber turnover of ₹100 crore. This detailed charge sheet is the culmination of a meticulous yearlong investigation led by the Special Investigation Bureau, directed by key officials from the Uttarakhand tax department, including Commissioner Dr Ahmed Iqbal, Additional Commissioner Rakesh Verma, and Joint Commissioner Thakur Ranveer Singh.
Special Public Prosecutor Lakshy Kumar Singh is representing the department in court, underscoring the gravity of the charges. The exhaustive charge sheet, compiled over 58 days, incorporates insights gleaned from the forensic scrutiny of over 200 bank accounts associated with bogus firms, scrutinisation of messages and WhatsApp chats from over 60 mobile phones, examination of soft documents from 30 computers, and the perusal of numerous paper files and forged bills seized from the accused persons’ offices and residences.
A senior official from the Special Investigation Bureau (SIB) highlighted, “We have presented before the court the evidence of tax evasion worth ₹20 crore through bogus sale of 113 crore timber to more than 28 firms that exist only on paper.” The official added, “While our probe was going on, many timber companies, who were evading tax by colluding with these fake firms, started paying their tax genuinely to the dept out of fear of criminal action against them. Since we took up this case about a year ago, companies have paid tax in crores.”
Hussain, who had been on the run since March 4, faced a relentless search and seizure operation in the Jaspur area of Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand. Employing advanced technology such as drones, digital tracking, and analysis software like FALKAN and “Artificial Superintelligence,” along with electronic surveillance, the Special Investigation Bureau successfully tracked and apprehended Hussain.
The investigation revealed that a group of traders established bogus firms to provide a legal façade to their illicit timber trade, evading GST worth crores of rupees in Udham Singh Nagar, a prominent timber market in the country. The operation, involving 27 teams and more than 300 tax, forensic, and financial technology experts, targeted 27 commercial establishments and residences of transporters, advocates, and chartered accountants.
The investigators, tracing these networks for the past nine months, uncovered the existence of multiple firms registered in the name of a single person, seemingly designed to defraud tax authorities. There are suspicions of bank officials collaborating in facilitating account openings without proper KYC processes. The intricate network involved 25 to 30 individuals working collaboratively to execute the fraudulent scheme. Firms and unregistered places of business discovered during the investigation were promptly sealed with the approval of the district administration.
