GHAZIABAD: As many as 13 teams of income tax (IT) department on Monday conducted raids at the premises of six iron traders and suppliers in Loha Mandi and seized over Rs 1 crore in cash. Besides that, a large quantity of bullion and jewellery were also recovered from them. The worth of jewellery and bullion is yet to be ascertained, officials said. More than six bank lockers were also sealed.In addition to the traders’ godowns and factories located in Loha Mandi, the IT sleuths also swooped down on their houses and offices in Kavi Nagar Raj Nagar and Noida. Sources said the raids were based on the prior information that the traders were reportedly not maintaining the books of accounts properly, and also evading tax liability worth several crores. Their ledger books and various important documents were taken away by the officials for further study.Officials said the raids were primarily focused on PS Enterprises, Panna Lal and Company and their subsidiaries, besides suppliers Aryaman Ispat, Laxmi Steel, Gurja Steel and National Steel.The raids started around 7 am on Monday and continued till late in the evening. Sources said it was the first such raids to be conducted at such a massive scale in Loha Mandi in past several years. A heavy police force accompanied the raiding parties comprising IT officials from Ghaziabad, Noida, Kanpur, Meerut and Agra. As many as 16 premises were searched by the end of the day.As soon as the news of IT raids spread in the area, traders shut down their factories and staged a protest against the department’s move. The situation returned to normalcy only after a delegation of traders met the principal director of income tax (investigation), UP (east) and UP (west), Amrendra Kumar, and raised their concerns.When contacted, Kumar said, “The raids were conducted on the basis of our prior inputs, and in no way aimed at inducing any fear among traders. However, they should know that commercial disciple needs to be followed while doing business. The raids will continue in coming days.”In June this year, the income-tax department had unearthed over Rs 50 crore worth undisclosed income, properties and jewellery during raids on the premises of several prominent entities including a BJP leader, a petrol pump owner and a doctor couple in a two-day raid in Modinagar. Around Rs 1 crore worth of cash and jewellery were also seized from these high-profile individuals.

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