KOLKATA: After conducting surprise raids on two major property tax defaulters in the past seven days, a Kolkata Municipal Corporation crack team on Wednesday raided a commercial building on Theatre Road for realizing unpaid property tax.According to a KMC official, four commercial firms operating from a multi storey building on Theatre Road close to Shakespeare Sarani Police station owe Rs 4 crore as outstanding property tax for past several years. The civic crack team was assisted by sleuths from Shakespeare police station. The sleuths stood guard in the entrance to the office.Over 60 employees working on the ground and first floor of the building were taken aback when the civic officials reached the office armed with a distress warrant. Routine office work came to a halt when the KMC assessment department officials asked CEO of a commercial establishment to clear the dues.The CEO however pleaded helplessness as he stated his firm was one of the tenants in the commercial building like three other firms and not the owner of the building. Tension among the employees escalated as a KMC official showed the distress warrant and asked top brass of three firms to pay the dues to avoid getting their offices sealed. Under the KMC assessment department rules the civic body can seal an office of a property tax defaulter if he/she fails to clear dues. A distress warrant issued by the municipal commissioner enables the civic officials to seal a defaulter’s office.After waiting for a while, the KMC officials contacted the owner of the building on phone. The owner who was out of town assured that he would pay the dues once back in Kolkata on Friday. However, the owner contested the amount of dues (Rs 4 crore) and appealed the civic bosses to allow him a waiver, said a civic official. “Whether we will allow him a waiver or not will be decided at a meeting on Friday. We have given him 48 hour time and won’t allow more time,” said a KMC revenue department official.Sources in the KMC assessment department confirmed that the department had received a ‘go ahead’ signal from the civic top brass for conducting a series of raids against major property tax defaulters across the city. “We have planned a series of raids against major and habitual property tax defaulters. We have planned to mop up revenue as regular revenue from property tax has started showing a negative trend,” said a KMC revenue department official.

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