Rs 3 crore seized from trader

HT, 23 December 2016, Kolkata: The Income Tax (I-T) department on Friday raided the residence of Anirudh Mehta, a businessman in Brabourne Road area and seized Rs 3.86 crore in old Rs 1,000 currency notes.

Mehta was interrogated at I-T headquarters where he failed to give any satisfactory answer to the questions regarding the cash.

I-T department sources said since demonetisation was announced on November 8, Rs 25 crore has been seized in the city.

The department on Friday also raided a businessman’s office in Siliguri and his home in Rajarhat. “Nothing was seized in this operation but we have gathered information which is to be assessed to calculate tax obligation of the person,” the official said.

ED officials also raided various co-operative banks in various districts where there were reports of huge deposits in the savings accounts. The ED officers also seized documents from these banks regarding transactions after November 8.

The IT department also learnt that more than Rs 100 crores has been used to purchase gold jewellery after November 8. The IT department has raided several jewellery shops to find out the black money transaction.

“The department raided the jewellery house’s showrooms for the last two-day. The search ended on Thursday’s late night. We have seized nothing but we found out Rs 160-170 crore of gold was sold in two-three days prior to the announcement of demonetisation on November 8. The bills were being verified,” the income tax official added.