Former TDP Minister Ponguru Narayana’s son-in-law Puneet is entangled in a legal issue after the Nellore police registered two cases against him on Monday. Puneet and Narayana’s daughter Sindhura are currently looking after the education institutions of Narayana. They are also the managing directors of ‘NSPIRA’, which provides various amenities to schools and colleges.
According to the police, Nellore transport commisioner filed a complaint on Puneet over evasion of tax and submission of forged documents under the Motor Vehicles Act. Following this complaint, the Nellore police conducted raids on the houses of different persons who are associated with these two organisations. During these raids, the police seized 1.81 Crores unaccounted cash. The SP of Nellore said that the persons failed to submit valid documents to support the sources of these amounts.
The investigation further brought to light various irregularities that are being committed under NSPIRA to benefit the Narayana educational institutions. According to the SP, NSPIRA purchased 92 buses in July and August 2023 for around Rs.20.68 crore. However, the company allegedly claimed an Input Tax Credit (ITC) amount of Rs.4.48 crore in its GST returns.
Reportedly, these buses were purchased as fixed assets under NSPIRA and later shown as leased vehicles to the educational institutions. However, when the police officials verified the invoices and other documents, they were fraudulently registered in the name of Narayana educational society to avail lower taxation slabs meant for educational institutions.
The investigation revealed that Puneet along with Ponguru Sindhura jointly ran NSPIRA to allegedly divert funds from the educational society and conduct transactions related to the institutions while illegally diverting government subsidies to their company.”
Puneet and others tampered with the GSTIN details in the purchase invoices to facilitate this conspiracy. They provided false information to the RTA authorities, enabling them to avail the lower taxation slab applicable to educational institutions, depriving the government of its due revenue”, the SP said. The authorities believe that Puneet, being a key member of Narayana Educational Society and NSPIRA, was aware of the fund transactions and allegedly diverted the tax benefits meant for the educational institutions to the management services company.