Mahesh Langa Arrest Not Related To His Reports Published In The Hindu: Editor

Suresh Nambath, editor of The Hindu, clarified that the arrest of Mahesh Langa, a senior assistant editor with the daily in Gujarat, was not linked to his journalistic work. Nambath shared on social media platform Bluesky that Mahesh Langa had been arrested by the Ahmedabad City Crime Branch following a complaint from the Central GST, but emphasised that this was unrelated to his reports published in The Hindu. He also praised Langa’s professional conduct and called for a fair and swift investigation, hoping that no journalist would be targeted for their work.

Mahesh Langa, a journalist who is critical of the state and central governments, was arrested on Tuesday morning, along with three others, as part of an investigation into an alleged input tax credit (ITC) fraud. This case, according to reports, follows an FIR filed against 13 firms for availing and passing on bogus ITC through fake invoices, causing a significant loss to the government exchequer. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajit Rajian, Rs 20 lakh in unaccounted cash, gold, and land documents were recovered from Langa.

“One of our journalists, Mahesh Langa, has been arrested by the Crime Branch of the Ahmedabad City Police on a complaint registered by the Central GST. While we have no details about the merits of the case, we are given to understand that this is not related to his reports published in The Hindu. We would like to state at this time that we appreciate his professional work for The Hindu as the Gujarat correspondent based in Ahmedabad. We do hope that no journalist anywhere is targeted for their work, and we expect the investigation to be conducted fairly and quickly,” Nambath wrote.

Although Langa was not named in the FIR, police allege, according to news reports, that his cousin, Manojkumar Langa, is involved in the fraudulent scheme through his company, DA Enterprise, where Mahesh Langa’s wife is a partner. However, neither Manojkumar nor his wife has been arrested, an Indian Express report said.

Also implicated in the case are Talala BJP MLA Bhagwan Barad’s son and nephews, who are accused of fraud through their company Aryan Associates. The MLA, Indian Express reported that, has denied any involvement.