LUCKNOW, Nov. 9 -- A case of massive tax evasion has come to light in the state capital where two traders have been accused of creating fake firms to fraudulently claim goods and services tax (GST) input credits amounting to nearly Rs.51.74 crore. Two FIRs had been registered against the duo at Vibhuti Khand and Bijnor police stations of Lucknow following complaints from officials of the state tax department on Monday and Wednesday respectively, confirmed senior officials here on Saturday. According to assistant commissioner (state tax) Gaurav Kumar Rajpoot, on June 13, 2024, trader Haseeb Khan obtained a GST registration for a firm named HK Impax using fabricated documents. The address provided was shown to be on Ayodhya Road and an electricity bill was submitted as proof. However, both the address and the electricity bill turned out to be fake. Further scrutiny of the records revealed that Khan had been issuing bogus invoices and claiming fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) worth around Rs.25 crore. Following this, an FIR was lodged against him at Vibhuti Khand police station on November 3 . In a separate case, trader Suvendu had registered a firm named Sun Enterprises in the Bijnor area on May 24, 2024, said deputy commissioner Ashok Kumar Tripathi from state tax division-19. During inspection, the firm was found to be non-existent at the stated address. Subsequent investigation revealed that Suvendu had allegedly evaded Rs.26.74 crore in taxes through fake transactions and fraudulent ITC claims. The department then filed a case at Bijnor police station. The investigations mark one of the largest GST evasion crackdowns in recent months in the state.HTC...