The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has reportedly arrested the President of All India Furnace Association in Ludhiana, KK Garg, and his son in an alleged bogus billing scam.The arrest has sent shock waves among industrialists, especially those dealing in the steel industry, in Ludhiana and Mandi Gobindgarh.Well- placed sources said that KK Garg was picked up by the DGGI yesterday for questioning but late last night, he was arrested. The Department, however, is tight-lipped over any development.Talking to The Tribune, World MSME president Badish Jindal alleged that it was an autocratic move by the Central GST officials to generate revenue.“We have written to the Union Finance Minister, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, regarding the conflict between Section 16(2) and Section 158 of the CGST Act, 2017, and its adverse impact on the industry. Suppose a buyer buys scrap from a dealer, he will pay the bills as per norms but he does not know from where the scrap dealer got the material. The dealer may be the third or fourth buying party. Now what the other three parties have done, if they had evaded tax or purchased on bogus bills, how would a genuine buyer know about it when he has paid everything to the government. But the department tightens the grip on the end buyer and he becomes the scapegoat. Same has happened with KK Garg,” alleged Badish Jindal.Voicing concern over the department’s “bullying” tactics, the President, Furnace Association, Mandi Gobindgarh, alleged that Section 16-2 C of the GST was against the industry and the department was indulging in high-handedness.“We have the bills from the person who sells material and we are doing business in a transparent manner. But if some black sheep has sold material in an unethical manner and has now shut the business or is not traceable after committing fraud, why should we be held responsible for that? This is the duty of the department to crack a whip against the defaulters, why are genuine businessmen being penalised?” asked Gupta, who said that he had filed a PIL in the High Court but it had not brought any fruitful results to date.