BAREILLY: In perhaps one of the biggest search operations by the Income Tax department in recent times, nearly 250 I-T sleuths conducted raids at the properties owned by a city-based industrialist. According to officials, as many as 27 teams from Moradabad and Uttarakhand jointly conducted searches at properties belonging to Ghanshyam Khandelwal, whose family runs oil and edible oil factories (BL Agro Industries) in Parsakhera and Faridpur. I-T’s principal director (investigation) Amrendra Kumar told TOI that Khandelwal’s account books suggest tax evasion. “Khandelwals have an annual turnover of Rs 3,000 crore, but they showed net profits of only 0.85% to 1% of the total turnover,” Kumar said.Teams of I-T department simultaneously raided at all establishments of Khandelwal brothers, Ghanshyam and Dilip, around 7.30 am. The news of raids spread across the city within no time. Soon, the I-T officials took possession of mobiles owned by the Khandelwal family. They also seized several gadgets, including laptops, computer hard disks, along with documents like account books and ledgers from the office of the family’s accountant.“Our 27 teams carried out search operations at various locations. We recovered cash deposit receipts in a huge number which had no entry in the account books. We also found that Khandelwals have several bank accounts in Kanpur in which money in crores was pumped in over the past several years, even though they have no business setup there. Now, they have started trading in pulses to put their money into a new venture since no GST is applicable on pulse trading.”Earlier in the day, when the I-T team arrived at Khandelwals’ ancestral shop in the old Shyamganj market in the heart of the Old City, scores of shopkeepers gathered there and protested. However, the crowd dispersed after seeing police accompanying the I-T team.Sources said that the raids were carried out so secretly that even the I-T officials working in Bareilly had no clue about them. This, despite the fact that 250 I-T sleuths had been staying at IVRI guest house since Wednesday.At the time this report was filed, principal director Kumar said, “Our investigation is still going on and the search operation will continue till late night.”ReplyForward

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