Lucknow: A group of four men allegedly posed as GST officials, used details from a truck’s e-way bill and tax invoice to make their claims appear genuine, and demanded Rs 50,000 from the driver. What initially appeared to be a GST inspection on a highway in Hamirpur was later found to be an alleged extortion attempt, according to police.Hamirpur Police have arrested four people for allegedly posing as GST officials and stopping a vehicle carrying kitchen goods from Lucknow to Mahoba. Two other members of the group are on the run.The case came to light on Sept 22, when a vehicle carrying goods linked to former MP Gangacharan Rajput was stopped near the Hamirpur bypass at around 8 am. The men allegedly introduced themselves as GST officials and demanded Rs 50,000 from the driver.The driver was allegedly threatened, and Rs 11,000 in cash was also taken from his pocket, police said.The alleged scam began to unravel when the owner of the consignment, Suresh Chandra, sought to verify the purported GST inspection with the department.A state tax officer, Durgaprasad, checked the location and found that no authorised GST checking was taking place there.When the officer contacted the driver, he reportedly learnt that four to five men travelling in a Bolero had stopped the vehicle, claimed to be GST officials and demanded Rs 50,000.That call triggered the police investigation. Investigators say the alleged extortion attempt was not random.Police found that the vehicle owner, Mahesh Pandey, and driver Dinesh Singh had allegedly shared the truck’s e-way bill and tax invoice. The information was then allegedly used by Bhola Yadav alias Sunny and his associates to contact the consignment owner while posing as a GST official named Harshit Kumar from the Kanpur division.The suspects allegedly used details from the documents to make the fake inspection appear credible.Police recovered fake GST identity cards from Bhola Yadav and Aman Yadav during their arrests. Mobile phones and SIM cards allegedly used by the accused were also seized.During interrogation, police said they uncovered what they suspect was a wider modus operandi. SP, Hamirpur, Mrigank Shekhar Pathak, said that Bhola allegedly operated with his brother Sagar and associate Krishna. The group had reportedly earlier been involved in helping trucks move covertly across the Bihar border to evade GST checks.As border enforcement became stricter, police said, the suspects allegedly shifted tactics.They allegedly began gathering information about trucks and consignments through drivers and vehicle owners staying at dhabas and roadside hotels. Armed with fake GST identity cards and details of consignments, they allegedly stopped vehicles and demanded money by threatening them with tax action.
