Karur: Sleuths from the income tax department conducted searches at stone quarries in five places in and around Karur and the house of the proprietor of the quarries on Thursday.A team of 30 I-T officials from Trichy began searches at the Vinayaka Blue Metals at Kurumbapatti, Thirumurugan Bala Vinayaka Blue Metals at Kattumunnur, Pon Vinayaka Blue Metals at Karudaiyampalayam and Karpaga Vinayaka Blue Metals at Sadaiyampalayam near Pavithram at around 10am.According to sources, all the five quarries are owned by Ponnuswami of Vasantham Nagar in Aandankoil in Karur. I-T officials also conducted searches at Ponnuswami's house, sources said.More than 50 stone quarries are functioning in more than 50 locations, including K Paramathi, Pavithram, Thennilai and Punnamchathram, in Karur district. Construction aggregate mined from these quarries are transported to various districts including Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Madurai in hundreds of trucks.According to sources, the searches were carried out by the income tax department based on widespread tax evasion. However, it has not been confirmed whether the authorities recovered any documents from the quarries or his house.

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