Shahjahanpur (UP), Dec 5 (PTI) A Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Friday arrested three members of a gang that allegedly created fake firms and evaded taxes amounting to Rs 10 crore in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district, police said.

The accused have been identified as Gaurav Yadav and Deepak, both residents of Delhi, and Siddharth Pandey of Prayagraj. Materials used in creating the forged firms were also recovered, they added.

Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi told PTI that State Tax Assistant Commissioner Bhavana Chandra had complained to Roja police station on May 28, alleging that several firms in the area were evading commercial taxes. Initial teams formed to probe the case achieved only partial success, following which an SIT was constituted.

"The SIT has now made a breakthrough and arrested three accused," he said.

According to the police, interrogation revealed that the gang lured people on social media by offering loans. Once individuals responded, the accused collected their PAN cards, Aadhaar cards, electricity bills and other documents, and used these to create fake firms registered with the commercial tax department. These firms were then shown to have high-value transactions to facilitate large-scale tax evasion.

Dwivedi said the gang also issued fake invoices and uploaded them on the government portal to show bogus sales, earning commissions from genuine traders who used these fraudulent bills.

Police said the fake firms were created in the names of students, government employees, bus drivers and conductors.

The accused have been booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of Section 132 of the Commercial Tax Act, the police said.

Efforts are on to arrest the remaining members of the gang, the police added. PTI COR KIS APL

Fake firms and invoices used to evade Rs 10 crore in taxes resulted in arrests and charges under tax laws. The SIT alleges an organised scheme to evade about Rs 10 crore in commercial taxes by creating fake firms using collected identity documents, registering them with the commercial tax department, and issuing/uploading bogus invoices on the government portal to facilitate fraudulent tax credits and earn commissions; three suspects have been arrested and charged under penal provisions and Section 132 of the Commercial Tax Act, with investigations ongoing.