Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], October 30 (HBTV): Ahmedabad Police said on Wednesday that another FIR will be filed against Mahesh Langa, a journalist, after the police received a cheating complaint against him. The Ahmedabad crime branch arrested Langa in a Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud case on October 8.

"We are going to file another FIR against journalist Mahesh Langa. One complaint of cheating of around Rs 28 lakh has been received. First of all, an FIR was filed by the GST department on October 7, after which Mahesh Langa and some associates were arrested. His house was searched, and around Rs 20 lakh cash and some incriminating documents were found," Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik told reporters.

Malik said that searches were conducted in 19 locations in Bhavnagar, Surat, Junagadh, Rajkot, and Ahmedabad.

"In the FIR, there is a mention of 222 shell companies. There was a shell company, Dhruvi Enterprise, and a specific mention of its 12 companies was made in this FIR... Mahesh Langa also started a company in 2023 in the name of Naina Langa, his brother's wife, whose suspicious transactions are also being investigated," he said.

The police officer said that 17 accused have been arrested in the case, and the investigation is ongoing.

"In the last 2022-23 Income Tax return of Mahesh Langa, his income is only INR 9.48 lakh and his wife's income is INR 6.04 lakh, which means his 1-year income is around INR 15.5 lakh, and INR 20 lakh cash was found at his house," Malik said.

"The new FIR is for cheating; one person gave around Rs 28 lakh to Mahesh Langa, but he did not do his work and did not even return the money. After knowing that Mahesh Langa has been arrested, the complainant has come forward, and we are registering a complaint for the same," he added.

Langa was taken into custody after the Central GST uncovered suspicious transactions linked to fake firms established in his wife's and father's names using forged documents.

Following the first FIR against Langa, both the crime branch and Gujarat's Economic Offences Wing conducted raids at 14 locations statewide, including cities like Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Surat, Kheda, and Bhavnagar.   

(ANI)