I-T raids two business groups in Ahmedabad; recovers Rs 7-cr cash

The Income Tax department has recovered about Rs 7 crore cash and identified over a dozen bank lockers for seizure after it raided two business groups in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, officials said.

While the officials did not identify the two entities, they said the first is a land broker and investor group and the other is a financier house that operates from Gujarat's capital city.

A total of 16 premises, including eight residential locations, were searched by a team of about 100 tax and police sleuths, they said.

Unaccounted cash of about Rs 7 crore has been found and thirteen bank lockers in the name of various family members of the business groups have been detected and will be put under restraint soon, they said.

Officials said the first business group (land broker and investor) is engaged in land dealing activities for the last two decades and has earned "huge unaccounted income" out of brokerage activities and invested this alleged illegal money in purchase of land.

The land broker and the investor group has been found instrumental in finalising various land deals in posh localities of Ahmedabad, they added.

The second group (financier) is one of the leading manufacturers and wholesale dealer of ladies dresses and has "earned huge unaccounted income" by way of under-invoicing, they claimed.

The unaccounted income earned by this second group was invested in various high-end real estate projects of Ahmedabad city.

The department is now scrutinising "voluminous incriminating documents" recovered during the raids and said these indicate huge unaccounted cash loans and unaccounted investment in land.

The documents also suggest purchase and sale of land by third parties involving huge unaccounted cash transactions, they added.