Chhattisgarh GST Busts Gutkha Scam, Arrests Businessman

Illegal Factories, Bonded Labor Exposed in Sitar Brand Racket as State Vows Zero Tolerance on Revenue Theft

RAIPUR, CHHATTISGARH (India CSR): In a crackdown that’s sending shockwaves through the shadowy underbelly of Chhattisgarh’s tobacco trade, state GST sleuths have dismantled a sprawling network of clandestine gutkha production, arresting key player Gurumukh Jumnani on charges of siphoning off crores in unpaid taxes. The four-year saga behind the “Sitar” brand—marked by nomadic factories, fake ledgers, and exploited workers—lays bare the human and fiscal toll of unchecked evasion, even as recent GST reforms tighten the noose on sin goods like these. With daily outputs worth Rs 25 lakh hitting black markets, this bust not only plugs a gaping revenue hole but spotlights the grim realities fueling India’s underground economy.

Key Facts Table: Chhattisgarh Gutkha Scam

Unraveling the Web: From Tip-Off to Midnight Raids

The unraveling began in the humid haze of late June, when GST teams swooped down on suspected sites in Durg and Rajnandgaon on the 25th and 27th. What started as routine probes into irregular filings exploded into a full-blown exposé of systemic fraud. Investigators pieced together a trail of evasion dating back to April 2021, revealing how Jumnani orchestrated production sans any GST registration—a blatant sidestep of the 28% base rate plus a punishing 204% compensation cess on gutkha, rates unchanged even amid the September 22 overhaul that streamlined slabs to 5%, 18%, and 40% for most goods. By contrast, plain areca nut—supari—draws just 5%, a loophole Jumnani allegedly exploited ruthlessly.

Evading summons for two grueling months, Jumnani’s game of cat-and-mouse ended on September 23 with his arrest under Section 69 of the CGST Act. Officials now peg the total dodged dues in the multi-crore range, with forensic audits underway to tally the exact bleed on state coffers. This isn’t an isolated hit; it echoes a June 2025 pre-dawn raid at 3 a.m. on a Sitar factory, where officers hauled away wrappers, machines, and raw stocks—operations run nocturnally by Madhya Pradesh migrants under flickering lights to dodge daylight scrutiny.

Nomadic Factories and Phantom Sales: The Evasion Playbook

Jumnani’s operation was a masterclass in evasion artistry, with production hubs hopping like fugitives across Chhattisgarh’s industrial fringes. From April 2021 to September 2022, the racket hummed in rural outposts like Manki village and Thelkadih in Rajnandgaon and Khairagarh. By early 2023, it migrated to Raipur’s Mandir Hasaud and Bhanpuri neighborhoods, only to resurface in Durg’s Bairdeeh, Joratari, and Ganiyari by mid-year—a relentless churn every few months to outfox patrols.

Finished pouches, rebranded under innocuous aliases, vanished into warehouses before flooding bazaars from Bihar to Maharashtra. A crown jewel of deceit: the “Komal Food” outfit in Durg, nominally run by Jumnani’s son Sagar, where supari shipments morphed into gutkha under the radar. Paper trails screamed legitimacy—5% GST on nut sales—while the real yield, laced with tobacco and additives, evaded the full 232% effective levy. Prior skirmishes hint at deeper rot: a March 2024 sweep netted ₹50 lakh in back taxes from similar setups, while food safety raids seized ₹1.5 crore in contraband supari, underscoring a pattern of regulatory whack-a-mole.

Human Cost: Bonded Labor in the Gutkha Grind

Beyond the ledgers, the probe peeled back a darker layer: a pipeline of desperation exploiting young men from Madhya Pradesh, funneled as bonded laborers into nightmarish shifts. Testimonies paint a Dickensian tableau—12-hour marathons under duress, confined to factory compounds, rotated out every quarter like disposable cogs. No wages worth mentioning, scant food, zero exit: a modern bondage echoing India’s stubborn 11 million-plus trapped in debt servitude, per 2022 ILO estimates, with tobacco trades a notorious hotspot. Local whispers and worker accounts finger Jumnani as the invisible puppeteer, pulling strings from afar while locals fronted the facade.

This revelation amplifies calls for holistic reform. Chhattisgarh’s August 2025 shrimp factory rescues—freeing 23 locals from similar grips in Andhra Pradesh—signal rising vigilance, but experts warn that without robust rehabilitation, these cycles persist, ensnaring the vulnerable in evasion’s crosshairs.

Government Clampdown: Zero Tolerance in the Post-Reform Era

As probes deepen, Chhattisgarh’s administration is doubling down, vowing a scorched-earth stance on fiscal fugitives. “No mercy for those peddling poison while picking public pockets,” declared a senior official, aligning with the GST 2.0 ethos that hikes sin taxes to 40% while easing everyday burdens. Jumnani faces not just repayment but penalties under evasion clauses, with FIRs for labor violations looming. This bust folds into a broader blitz: September’s unmasking of 170 phantom firms across states, netting cash and gold, shows intel-driven nets widening.

For consumers hooked on these cheap highs—despite oral cancer’s grim toll, claiming 1.3 lakh Indian lives yearly—the fallout could mean pricier black-market bites or a cleaner supply chain. Yet, as factories fall silent, the real win lies in reclaiming revenue for schools and roads, turning evasion’s ill-gotten gains into public good.

(India CSR)

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT