Mumbai: Two superintendents of the Customs department and a police constable were booked for allegedly duping a 50-year-old businessman of ₹80 lakh on the pretext of settling his matter of GST evasion. The accused are identified as police constable Jayesh Kadam from Karjat Government Railway Police (GRP) station, Customs superintendents Lalit Basare and Neelkamal Singh.
In August 2022, GST officers summoned the complainant – Ali Asgar Najmuddhin Patanwala, a resident of Agripada – at the GST Bhuvan at Churchgate, a GRP officer said, adding, “The officers asked him to pay ₹3.5 crore towards GST and interest and warned him that he could be arrested if he failed to clear the dues.” He added that Patanwala got the contact Kadam from a friend, who told him that the constable could help him get the matter settled.
“Kadam told the complainant that he knew officers in Customs and GST and can get his matter settled,” said the GRP officer. “Later, he told the businessman to deposit an amount of ₹1.86 crore with the GST department. He said the complainant would get a show cause notice and after he replies to it, he will get back the entire amount of ₹1.86 crore and sought ₹1 crore in cash as an advance for settling the matter,” the GRP officer added.
Accordingly, Patanwala paid ₹50 lakh to Kadam and met Basare and Singh, he said. “Later they started demanding the remaining amount of ₹50 lakh. The complainant, however, asked for a receipt for the first installment. Kadam then took the complainant to the GST office and introduced him to several senior officials, after which he paid the remaining amount of ₹50 lakh to Kadam,” said the GRP officer.
However, after paying the amount, when he did not get the show cause notice from GST, he became suspicious, the officer said, adding, “In November the GST department again summoned the complainant and questioned as to why he had not paid the taxes.”
“Patanwala then told the whole story to GST department officials. In December, Singh called him to Sher-E-Punjab hotel in Fort and told him he was not aware of the ₹1 crore but he and his other colleague in the Customs had received ₹35 lakh and the rest of the money was spent by them. He said they had ₹20 lakh left with them and offered to give the amount to the complainant,” said the police officer.
Later the complainant collected ₹20 lakh from the Customs officials and approached senior GRP officials, including the commissioner, after Kadam kept on avoiding him.
“We have registered a case and it will be transferred to Agripada Police Station for investigation, as everything has happened in their jurisdiction,” said Vijay Tayde, senior police inspector of CSMT GRP.