Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of Opposition of Kerala, VD Satheesan, on Wednesday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into an alleged GST scam in Kerala, claiming a single group engineered fraud worth ₹1,100 crore.

Satheesan alleged that registrations were created in the names of ordinary people without their knowledge, with GST collections and payments diverted into the fraudsters’ accounts. He said the scam was uncovered by Pune Intelligence, but the state government’s only step so far had been to cancel the registrations.

“The state exchequer has already suffered a loss of Rs 200 crore. The money that should have reached the treasury has not been recovered. Most of those affected people, whose records were used, are not even Income taxpayers. Moreover, the state government has not informed them, as now they are liable to get notices from the I-T authorities as transactions worth crores of rupees have been done using their PAN and Aadhaar,” he told reporters.

He accused GST officials of colluding with fraudsters and described the scandal, "This is not just tax evasion; it is also data theft. A section of OST officials is allegedly colluding with the fraudsters”, he added.

Calling the matter too complex for a state-level inquiry, Satheesan pressed for a CBI investigation, alleging the government was shielding complicit officials.

The Opposition’s demand has escalated political pressure on the Left government, exposing serious lapses in Kerala’s GST administration.

IANS