I-T dept busts black money racket in J&K, recovers Rs 1.44 crore cash

Striking twice within a month, the income tax department has recovered unaccounted money as well as jewellery, and narrowed in on concealed financial transactions in the Kashmir Valley on Friday. 

This assumes significance in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, especially after the Pulwama terror attack. 

While one operation was against a “prominent” trader who “apparently used” proxies to conduct large cross-LOC trade, the other was against a property dealer, who allegedly facilitated cash for undesirable activities. 

The department seized undisclosed cash worth Rs 1.44 crore and unaccounted jewellery of Rs 2.48 crore from five locations in the Valley. The evidence collected points to undisclosed property transactions of more than Rs 41 crore, and concealed financial transactions of nearly Rs 17 crore, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a press release. 

“These actions are part of the department’s continued drive against use of black money by disruptive elements in the state (J&K). The operations also send a message of deterrence and obviation to those intending to vitiate the democratic process of free and fair elections,” it said. 

In the first case, the CBDT found documents of transactions in the names of proxies. With regard to the second person, tax was evaded in a property transaction of above Rs 4 crore.  Some retailers in Kashmir as well as in the Jammu region have been brought under scanner, the CBDT said. This is the second such raid within a month. The last week of February saw similar search actions by the CBDT in the Valley.