I-T raids Jammu traders, detects crores deposited in multiple, hired accounts

POST-DEMONESTISATION ACTION:

SUMIT SHARMA

JAMMU: In the follow-up to the demonetisation exercise, the Income Tax Department, Jammu, today launched a series of raids on traders suspected to be black money hoarders and seized their bank accounts as well as of others which they had got opened to stash money. The Income Tax department conducted raids on business establishments and residences of their owners after scrutinizing the bank accounts in which big amounts of cash in old currency was deposited after demonetisation.
The raids were held at Nectar Commercial Pvt. Ltd. - a real estate company, Balbir Singh Choudhary - Flour Mills, Sawan Mal Girdhari Lal - Wholesaler, Ajanta Electronics at Paloura, BSF, and M/s Sanjay Kumar Amit Kumar, Kaleeth Nagar, Hari Market - Readymade Garments. During the initial scrutiny of their bank details, the I-T department detected black money running into crores of rupees.
Sources said that Balbir Singh Choudhary - Flour Mills and Ajanta Electronics Paloura, BSF, were the leading black money hoarders.
The flour mills owner had disclosed black money, but it was peanuts when compared to the seizures in the raids today.
The scrutiny was on till late hours.
“The raids were conducted on black money hoarders who had deposited huge amounts of cash in their own bank accounts and in the accounts of their relatives which they had got opened after demonetisation,” said authoritative sources.
“The Income Tax department was well aware of the fact that the black money hoarders had come up with an ingenious way to launder their money. As part of this, several people from the poor and middle class were offered to deposit money in old currency notes into their accounts. This was to be later exchanged with new notes and the account holders were to be given some commission in return,” they maintained.
Official sources further added that a large number of people have come under the scanner of the I-T department for tax fraud and illegal conversion of old currency and they were under surveillance.
The Income Tax department launched Post demonetization raids in the winter capital of state after the expiry date of “Operation Clean Money” as tax evaders were given an opportunity till February 15, said sources.
On January 31, the tax department had launched “Operation Clean Money” under which it had sent SMSs and emails to the assessees in the initial phase for suspicious cash deposits of Rs 5 lakhs and above made between November 9 -30 December 2016 and later it was extended to February 15.