Tax swindle in reverse

A gang of six swindlers, posing as investigation officers of the income-tax department, raided a person’s house in Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh last month. Using a fake letter and identity cards issued by the department, they impounded Rs 11 lakh and demanded a bribe for closing the case. The police caught two of them but the mastermind of the plot is absconding. The police sought the income-tax department’s help to catch him and his photograph was duly circulated on its website. The general suspicion in the department is that the mastermind had been an insider because he was well versed in search and seizure procedures.