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Thursday, December 1, 2016

Rs 4.7 Crore, Gold Biscuits Seized in Biggest Catch 9n Bengaluru Since Demonetisation of Rs 500/Rs1000 Notes wef midnight of Nov 08,2016

In the biggest seizure of cash in new currency post demonetisation, the Income Tax department on Thursday Dec 01,2016 confiscated over Rs 4 crore during searches in a dozen premises in Bengaluru and other locations.

A team of over 50 I-T sleuths and police personnel launched operations early morning and searched premises in Bengaluru, Chennai and Erode (Tamil Nadu).

"During the course of searches Rs 4.7 crore cash in new denominations of Rs 2000 and 0.3 crore in old/smaller denominations totalling Rs 5 crore and 7 kg bullion worth approximately Rs 2 crore were found in a flat owned by a civil contractor.

"The new notes and bullion are learnt to have been obtained by exchange of demonetised notes by payment of commission of an engineer and a contractor," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body of the tax department, said in a statement

The sleuths also seized some notes of Rs 100, demonetised notes of Rs 500 and a few gold biscuits during the operation, it said, adding the department had to call in note counting machines and additional staff to ascertain the value of the cash.

What has surprised the tax authorities is the sheer amount of new currency stashed by these individuals at a time when new notes are not available to the common public which is queueing up to withdraw even small amounts from their accounts.

"This is the highest seizure of the new currency in the country post the currency ban on November 8. Some entry operators and bankers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are under the scanner. Such volume of new currency cannot be obtained without connivance of bank officials," a senior I-T department official said.

The department has also found a number of identity cards of various individuals from the searched premises which could have been used to illegally change the old currency with new ones.

Taxman has also seized documents of property purchase from the premises, even as they found a battery of luxury cars parked in these locations.

"The investigation is still in progress and the search action is still continuing in ten premises," the CBDT statement added.

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