Chennai: In a crackdown on manufacturers of gutkha and pan masala across south India, sleuths from the income-tax department conducted raids at least 30 places across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for alleged tax evasion to the tune of many crores of rupees. Income tax sources said that at least 50 I-T investigators from Chennai office were involved in raids on 6 to 8 places across the state and neighbouring Puducherry while other teams, closely coordinated centrally from New Delhi, are searching in AP and Telangana.
Sources added that apart from company premises, residences and office premises of the senior executives of the companies making pan masala and gutkha are being searched. The distribution networks of these manufacturers are also under IT department scanner. The searches are expected to unearth tax evasion. The teams also seized a huge quantity of cash during the raids.
The raids in Chennai were on at a pan masala godown in suburban Red Hills where a team of I-T officials began conducting search operations from 8 am on Friday. During the raids, as officials verified the documents pertaining to the sale of materials, it came to light that several companies and godowns were operating without proper licences and permission. Since the sale of pan masala and gutkha are banned, no taxes have been levied on them and the items which were manufactured are sold at very high profit margins.
