I-T raids in Tamil Nadu yield huge amount of unaccounted cash: Official

The Income Tax Department’s raids at more than 30 places in Tamil Nadu in the last two days have led to huge amounts of cash belonging to one of the construction companies, said a senior income tax official.

“There are only five to six large contractors in the state and they are involved in laying roads or construction of buildings for departments like state highway and public works. In the first phase we searched two large contractors and the remaining contractors are being searched now,” said the official.

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He said searches were based only on confirmed information about accounts that are not proper. “We have been watching these construction companies for the past few years. Their growth is something we cannot imagine. Also, in other searches, we found the names of contractors and their companies. Following all these we started the searches,” said the official.

Political links?

In the past, the I-T department had searched construction companies, contractors involved in other works as well as some businesses that were associated with former AIADMK ministers. “It is during these searches, we found the names of the present companies which are under the scanner of the department,” said the official.

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“The searches are not connected to any political party leader or leaders though the contractors may be close to any political leader. The searches are only based on the I-T wing’s research about these companies and there is no pressure from any corner to search these contractors,” said the official when asked whether the searches are connected with former AIADMK ministers.

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Unlike the previous searches of contractors, where the I-T department found ₹500 crore worth of unaccounted income and hardly any cash, in these searches, the department has seized huge amounts of cash.

“During searches of the contractors, one contractor had huge amount of cash for which he could not show any source. We had to bring counting machines from various banks in Madurai and involve them in counting the cash. Apart from the cash found, we have also found unaccounted income to the extent of several crores of rupees,” said the official.

The searches are still continuing in some of the 30 places. “We are collating the cash seized as well as unaccounted income. Once this work is completed, we will be sending the details to our CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) headquarters in New Delhi and from there a statement will be released to the media,” said the official.

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