The sales tax department, while verifying the documents of a company, found it to be fake and lodged a cheating and forgery case at Taloja police station against the trader, who has identified himself as Zakeria Hussainmia Patel.

However, the police are finding it tough to trace him, as the name has turned out to be a fake as well. Last month, the sales taxsales tax officials had lodged a similar case at Rabale police station against a Digha trader., who had evaded Rs 32 lakh sales tax.

According to the Taloja police, assistant sales commissioner Tanaji Gaikwad,under the guidance of joint commissioner Sunil Sangale and deputy commissioner Satyajit Mane recently carried out a verification, where they sales found that Patel evaded sales tax amounting to Rs 48.57 lakh. Patel had registered a bogus firm - M/s Tops Drinks and Sand Suppliers in 2007 and carried out transactions to the tune of Rs 15.19 crore. The accused Patel had registered the said firm in the year 2007 with the sales tax department under the mandatory Maharashtra VAT ( Value Added Tax) Act. However,

For the past five years, he did not undertake any purchase and sale and instead gave had been submitting fake bills and tax invoices to several traders. Recently, assistant sales commissioner Tanaji Gaikwad, under the guidance of joint commissioner Sunil Sangale and deputy commissioner Satyajit Mane carried out an inspection and a documentn verification of Patel's firm, which

The inspection also revealed that the latter did not have an office, employees godown or goods.

Police inspector Ananda Hodage said, "We have not arrested the accused yet, as he had got the firm registered with a fictitious identity."

He had never purchased or sold any goods. However, he accepted money from traders for giving his firm's bills. Patel has not yet been arrested yet.