India, June 20 -- LUCKNOW The Lucknow Crime Branch busted an organised GST fraud network allegedly involved in creating fake firms, obtaining fraudulent registrations and facilitating tax evasion through bogus input tax credit (ITC) claims. A key accused was arrested on Friday in connection with a case registered by the state tax department, with investigators uncovering suspicious transactions worth nearly Rs.2.5 crore and more than 100 linked registrations.

According to officials, the accused would rent shops in the Itaunja area and use those addresses to obtain GST registrations. These firms allegedly existed only on paper and were used to generate fake invoices and fraudulent tax credits.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (cr...