I-T Officials Raid Seed, Dal Traders, Suspect Rs 1,000 Crore Tax Evasion

Hyderabad: Suspecting tax evasion to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore and irregularities in filing income-tax returns (ITRs), the income-tax (I-T) department officials on Tuesday conducted raids at various locations, including the residences and business establishments of seed and dal traders as well as wholesale dealers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

More than 20 teams conducted searches at 25 places in Hyderabad, Jogulamba Gadwal and Rangareddy districts and Visakhapatnam, and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh.

The I-T officials suspect that the traders and wholesale dealers had indulged in large-scale cash transactions during the 2024 general elections, thereby evading taxes. In their ITRs, the businessmen reportedly did not disclose purchase and sale details. The officials also found discrepancies between the data in their GST filings and ITRs.

The I-T officials raided the residence and offices of V Care Seeds Private Limited managing director Venkata Rao Dhulipala, in Madhapur. Venkata Rao is also associated with Green Crops Global Exim Pvt. Ltd, and Veda Spice Farm Pvt. Ltd.

It was also reported that similar raids took place at the residences of V Care Seeds directors, including Kiran Kumar Duddempudi, Kotiswamy Dhulipala, in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The I-T officials obtained ITRs filed by these businessmen and their firms for the past few financial years and verified the data, inspecting their investments, material purchases, sales, and expenditure. Reports suggest that the companies indulged in large-scale cash transactions to evade taxes.

The officials also collected farmers’ details during the searches. According to the data, the seed and dal traders had furnished records of the seeds supplied to farmers and the agricultural produce, including dal and other products, they had received in return.