BHOPAL: Major inflow and outflow of cash by a premier real estate group has led the Income Tax department to conduct searches at 14 locations of the group in four cities of Madhya Pradesh.
The searches which started on Wednesday morning and are likely to continue till Friday covered 14 locations of Peptech Group in four cities, including six in Chhatarpur, five in Bhopal, two in Satna and one in Indore, a senior IT department official of MP and Chhattisgarh told in Bhopal.
The five properties of the group searched in state capital Bhopal, included the group's main office at MP Nagar, besides residential premises of directors and key players of the management.
The IT department teams have so far seized around Rs 25 lakh unaccounted cash and some incriminating documents which could lead to major tax evasion by the real estate group owned by Chhatarpur-based siblings Neeraj and Vinay Chaurasiya.
According to sources, the Group which comprises four companies has major stakes in building, construction and housing sectors. One of its spin-off companies Lotus Infra Reality is engaged in the business of developing commercial complexes and high-end villas, particularly in Satna and Chhatarpur districts of Bundelkhand and Vindhyan region of the state.
The group which has been largely in the real estate sector since 2010-11 came under the IT department scanner following specific intelligence inputs about inflow and outflow of a large volume of cash in its operations, which raised the possibility of black money being parked by investors in the group's project.
"Substantial volume of cash is being taken by the group from its customers and investors in cash followed by equally significant cash volume being invested by the group in the acquisition of more land and properties. It raises a strong possibility of unaccounted cash being channelized by investors into the group and the same money being later invested by the group in its operations," said an IT department official.