Raigarh (Chhattisgarh) :The Income Tax department on Wednesday conducted raids at the residence and factory of an industrialist in Sattigudi Chowk in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh. As per the information, dozens of IT officers are currently at the residence and factory of industrialist Sanjay Agarwal. The IT sleuths are also present at the residence of one of his employees.
Earlier on Tuesday, the IT department of Jharkhand had recovered Rs 2 crore in cash, Rs 100 crore in unaccounted investments/transactions, and a total of 16 bank lockers that were put under restraint after a series of search and seizure actions on 50 premises in various states. These raids were done on a few business groups engaged in coal trading/ transportation, execution of civil contracts, extraction of iron ore, and production of sponge iron on November 4, 2022. Those who were searched included two politically exposed persons and their associates. The searches were carried out at more than 50 premises spread over Ranchi, Godda, Bermo, Dumka, Jamshedpur, Chaibasa, Patna, Gurugram, and Kolkata.
This search operation led to the seizure of a large number of incriminating documents and digital evidence. A preliminary analysis of this evidence indicated that these groups have resorted to various modus operandi of tax evasion including inflation of expenses, transactions of loans in cash, payments/receipts in cash, and suppression of production. During the search, it has also been found that investments have been made in immovable properties, the source of which could not be fully explained.
According to the statement of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday, the search operation had also revealed that one of the groups engaged in civil contracts was not maintaining regular books of account. The group has been inflating its expenses by entering into non-genuine transactions of purchase of raw material/ sub-contract expenses in lump sum at the fag end of the year. Evidence seized also suggested that unfair payments in cash had been made to secure contracts.
The CBDT statement further stated in the case of the other group engaged in coal trading/ extraction of iron ore, etc, unaccounted stock of iron ore of huge value has been found, which is yet be quantified. The said group has also introduced its unaccounted money in the form of unsecured loans and share capital by layering the transactions through shell companies. Professionals associated with this group admitted that they had not verified any supporting documents and had signed the audit report prepared by the group's accountant without due diligence, the statement added. (ANI)
