I-T Dept searches premises of kin of JK ex-minister Imran Reza Ansari

The Income Tax Department Thursday carried out searches at five places here, including at the premises of a kin of Imran Reza Ansari, a former minister in the PDP-BJP coalition, for alleged tax evasion, sources said.

The searches were carried out against a group which is a "monopolistic wholesale distributer" of pharmaceuticals in the Kashmir Valley, a released issued by the I-T Department said.

It was gathered that the group charged huge premium on life saving drugs which were exclusively sourced through it in the Valley and the extra normal profits earned by this modus operandi were used for investment in real estate in Srinagar, as well as for unaccounted expenditure by the promoter's family not disclosed in their income tax returns, the release said.

Sources said Ansari's sister is married into the family whose premises have been searched.

However, the tax officials maintained that searches were carried out on a business family and were in no way connected to Ansari, a politician who switched over to People's Conference led by Sajad Lone.

The I-T department release said the search action has yielded incriminating documents and digital evidence that suggest huge concealment of income by the promoter and his family members.

Apparently, Rs 3.08 crore in transactions of two pieces of land in Srinagar has been earned by the group, which has not been disclosed in the returns of income.

The digital evidence in the form of hard disc that has been seized, indicates that a part of the sales proceeds, approximating nearly 10 per cent of the turnover are kept outside the books of accounts to suppress profits, it said.

The search action has also led to unearthing of an undisclosed bank account in the name of a family member of the promoter of the group in the JK Bank at the Allamgiri Branch in Srinagar.

The proceeds in this bank account are apparently used to channel unaccounted income earned in the pharmaceutical business. Three bank lockers of the group have also been found in the search and their operation is likely to yield more incriminating evidence against the group, the release said.

The group has been allowed restructuring of its debt owed to JK Bank, whereby 50 percent of its monthly interest repayment is waived. Prima facie, the debt has been restructured in a manner that defies normal commercial transaction norms.

The searched group had deposited cash of Rs 47.20 lakh in the old demonetised currency during the demonetisation period. The source of this cash remains unexplained, the released said.