LUCKNOW, July 22 -- The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Uttar Pradesh, has arrested two alleged members of a racket accused of fraudulently generating and passing on Rs.4.17 crore worth of fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) through a fictitious GST-registered firm, causing loss to the state exchequer. The accused, Pawan Raghav and Mohit Kumar, were arrested on Monday by the EOW's Meerut Sector team in connection with an ongoing investigation into a case registered at Mughalpura police station in Moradabad under charges of cheating, forgery, using forged documents and criminal conspiracy. According to the EOW, the fraud came to light in 2024 when the accused allegedly hatched a criminal conspiracy to evade taxes and defraud the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department by fraudulently registering M/s Raghav Enterprises in Moradabad. Investigators said the firm existed only on paper and carried out no genuine business activity. Officials alleged that the accused generated fraudulent Input Tax Credit worth Rs.4.17 crore through forged transactions and passed the fake tax credit to buyers, enabling them to wrongfully claim GST benefits while putting the government at a loss. During the investigation, the EOW found that prime accused Pawan Raghav, in collusion with co-accused Mohit Kumar and another accused, Sachin Singh, used his Aadhaar card, PAN card and Aadhaar authentication one-time password (OTP) to facilitate the fraudulent registration of the GST firm. Investigators alleged that Mohit Kumar and Sachin Singh used these credentials to obtain GST registration in the name of M/s Raghav Enterprises and subsequently generated fictitious ITC without carrying out any legitimate commercial transactions. The arrests were made as part of a special statewide drive launched by the EOW headquarters in Lucknow to apprehend wanted economic offenders. Acting under the supervision of the superintendent of police, EOW, Meerut Sector, the investigation team arrested the two accused from the EOW Meerut Sector office premises on July 21. Officials said efforts are continuing to trace other accused and uncover the full extent of the alleged GST fraud network. The EOW is also examining the financial trail and the beneficiaries who availed themselves of the fake input tax credit generated through the bogus firm. The case is being investigated under provisions relating to cheating, forgery, use of forged documents and criminal conspiracy, with the agency indicating that further arrests and legal action may follow as the probe progresses....