The Income Tax Department has unearthed a scam worth more than Rs 240 crores in Maharashtra. The department conducted multiple raids at 32 places in North Maharashtra, including Nashik, Dhule, and Nandurbar. The raids were conducted at the residences of traders, government contractors and builders associated with the contractors. The operation was started on December 22 and lasted for five days.
During the raids, the IT department confiscated Rs 6 crore in cash and Rs 5 crore worth of jewellery. The raids were also conducted at the offices, partners’ residents and the houses of relatives in Nandubar and other locations.
In Nashik, the IT Department raided the D’Souza colony located on College Road. It is considered one of the most posh localities in the city. The houses and officers of the traders in the colony were raided. The relatives of the concerned traders and businessmen etc., were also questioned during the raid by IT officials.
175 officers raided different locations simultaneously
A total of 175 IT Department officials were involved in the raids. A heavy Police force was deployed at the time of the raids. Officials were called from Pune, Nagpur, Thane and Kalyan for the operation. Different squads were created to conduct the raids simultaneously on all 32 locations. The officers reached the locations using different routes.
Cash and jewellery found during raid
TV9 Marathi reported that the officials revealed cash transactions worth 25 crores. Apart from the information on cash transactions, the officials also found Rs 6 crore in cash and jewellery worth Rs 5 crore. The officers spent around 12 hours counting the cash using cash counting machines.
Diamonds, gold biscuits and pearls were part of the jewellery the IT officials found during the raid. They also found that the concerned persons had initiated transactions using others’ names. They also hid money at their relatives’ houses.
IT raids in Uttar Pradesh
Just a few days ago, the IT department raided several locations linked to the Samajwadi leader, who was also the manufacturer of Samajwadi perfume in Uttar Pradesh, where they found cash worth Rs 150 crore. The photos of piles of cash went viral on social media. The IT department had to bring in SBI officials and cash counting machines to count the cash.
