Thane shopkeeper booked for power theft in Mumbra area

The accused used two core cables to tap power in an unsafe manner from the fuse cut-out of the power supply company's utility network in the Mumbra area

An official on Thursday said that the police have registered a case against a shopkeeper in Maharashtra's Thane district for illegally tapping into the local power supply network and stealing electricity of Rs 8.59 lakh, reported news agency PTI.

The accused used two core cables to tap power in an unsafe manner from the fuse cut-out of the power supply company's utility network in the Mumbra area.

As many as 36,722 units of electricity were stolen in one year from December 31, 2023, the official from Mumbra police station said, reported PTI.

A case was registered against the accused on Wednesday under provisions of the Electricity Act, the police added.

GST evasion racket busted in Thane; 1 held

Authorities have busted a Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion racket involving a fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) scam of Rs 26.92 crore and arrested its "mastermind" in Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said, reported PTI.

The accused, Kapadiya Mahamad Sultan, orchestrated the fraud by setting up 18 fictitious entities which were used to generate fake invoices and claim ITC without any actual supply of goods or services, CGST Joint Commissioner Amit Kumar Singh said in a release issued on Tuesday, reported PTI.

Sultan, resident of Mira Road area in Thane, was arrested on Monday, the official said.

Investigations suggested that Sultan exploited the Aadhaar, PAN and other KYC documents of various people, who were paid in exchange for their personal information, reported PTI.

These documents were used to fraudulently register the fake firms for GST, open bank accounts, and create a network of dummy companies that engaged in proxy transactions, the release said.

The fraudulent input tax credits were then passed on to other firms, causing significant loss to the exchequer, it said, reported PTI.

Sultan, who has admitted to his involvement in the fraud, was booked under relevant provisions of the CGST Act, the official said.

Following his arrest, Sultan was produced before a local court which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody, reported PTI.

A probe was underway to identify others involved in the racket, the official added.

(With inputs from PTI)

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