The Income Tax Department said on Wednesday that it has seized unaccounted cash of Rs 1.73 crore and jewellery worth Rs 1 crore during searches conducted in West Bengal and Assam on a business group controlled by a person with an “active political background”.
In a press release, the department said the group operates majorly in the north Bengal region of the state.
The operation covered 23 premises in Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Kolkata, and Siliguri in West Bengal, and Guwahati in Assam, and surrounding areas.
“The business group is controlled by a person with an active political background. A search was also conducted on his close business associate,” the release stated.
The group has varied business interests, including the production and sale of edible rice bran oil, mustard oil, de-oiled rice bran (DORB), chemicals, and real estate.
“The search revealed that the group was suppressing its yield and making unaccounted cash sales of edible oils and DORB,” the statement said.
The department has detected instances of cash transactions that have not been recorded in regular books of account.
"Handwritten notes, documents, and digital evidence containing extracts of cash transactions have been seized. Parallel cash books and bogus claims of expenses have also been found. A preliminary investigation has revealed unaccounted income of more than Rs 40 crore,” the release said.
The search on the “close business associate” of the business group also yielded “incriminating documents against cash payments in land acquisition to the tune of Rs 17 crore (approx.)”, and “details pertaining to unaccounted cash receipts of about Rs 100 crore were also found”.
In the search, unaccounted cash worth Rs 1.73 crore and jewellery worth Rs 1 crore have been seized. The investigation is underway, it said.
Meanwhile, sharing the department’s press release on his Twitter handle, Suvendu Adhikari, a BJP MLA, stated: “The income tax department should reveal the name & let people know who the person is. Always people have a fair idea but eventually truth should come out officially. (sic)”