Hyderabad: Income-Tax officials have identified nearly 200 grain and pulses traders from Begum Bazaar, Osmangunj, Maharajgunj and other markets maintaining benami bank accounts into which they deposited crores of rupees after the demonetisation of high value notes on November 8 last.
The issue came to light when I-T officials were probing a deposit of Rs 18 crore in a nationalised bank at Nampally. The account holder was found to be a benami of a few traders. The money was transferred to another account in Mumbai through RTGS.
I-T officials said based on CCTV footage, they had nabbed a pulses trader from Mukhtargunj in the city in this connection.
Following up, I-T officials verified similar accounts with public sector banks in which huge amounts had been deposited and the money transferred to the accounts of traders from Mumbai, Udgir, Latur and Akola through RTGS and UTR numbers.
Based on the inputs given by the Hyderabad range officials, I-T teams from Mumbai and other regions in Maharashtra are conducting searches.
The I-T department has formed special teams and deputed more than 300 additional staff from other wings to raid identified erring traders from April 1. The Pradhan Mantri Gharib Kalyan Yojana, under which black money can be declared, ends on March 31.
