CHENNAI: The income tax searches on Chennai-based SPK and Co, a company involved in road contract work for Tamil Nadu state highways department, has yielded 170 crore in cash and 105 kg of gold till Tuesday evening, said a senior official in the I-T investigation wing.While searches on most locations owned by Nagarajan Seyyadurai, the founder of the company, and his close associates and employees were completed about 38 hours after it started, I-T officials have shifted their focus to a jeweller in the city who allegedly helped Seyyadurai convert cash into gold ornaments and bars. The sleuths also visited some banks, both nationalised and private, in Chennai and Madurai to check the transactions of Seyyadurai's firms. Many accounts that witnessed high-value transactions have been identified for detailed scrutiny, said the official.‘Seyyadurai had shown only a minuscule part of his income’After the searches on highprofile sand contractor Sekhar Reddy following demonetisation, this is the highest seizure during I-T searches in Tamil Nadu.“Seyyadurai had shown only a minuscule part of his actual income while filing tax returns. After studying the seized documents and electronic files, we will summon Seyyadurai for questioning,” said the official.In a statement, the I-T investigation directorate said two BMW cars were used by the firms to hide the cash and gold. “The main firm is engaged in civil construction work, mainly highways and bridges. Its sister concerns are engaged in the businesses of hotel, blue metal and toll ways,” said the statement.From Seyyadurai’s house, the sleuths seized only Rs 24 lakh in cash, the statement said. The remaining cash and gold were seized from 10 different places belonging to his employees and associates, the statement said.“Apart from the unaccounted assets, several documents in the form of loose sheets, diaries and registers, computer hard discs and two BMW cars were also seized. He has not only admitted the undisclosed assets, but also explained the modus operandi of generation and acquisition of these assets by inflating his sub-contract expenses and labour payments,” said the statement.DMK working president M K Stalin, while welcoming the I-T searches on SPK and Co, said its promoters were closely associated with the political executives in the state. Only a detailed probe into the tender process would bring out the truth, he said in a statement. He also called for scrapping all the tenders awarded by the state government to Seyyadurai’s firms.The AIADMK on Tuesday hit out at the opposition parties for carrying out what it termed a “smear campaign” against its party leaders.“The false propaganda against the party and the government is condemnable,” senior minister D Jayakumar said. Accusing the DMK of indulging in scientific corruption, Jayakumar said the contractors under the I-T scanner had taken contracts worth over ?10,000 crore during the previous DMK regime.

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