BHUBANESWAR: The Income Tax department on Friday carried out simultaneous searches at 44 premises linked to at least eight super class contractors, including kin of two former ministers, over allegations of tax evasion amounting to more than Rs 170 crore.
Sources in the I-T department said the searches were carried out after at least half a dozen real estate developers came under the central agency’s scanner for allegedly assisting Hansita Abhilipsa who has been accused of fraudulently amassing huge wealth through illegal means and engaging in benami transactions.
Of the 44 contractors, sources said, one is sibling of a BJD minister while the other is brother of a Congress leader from Balangir. However, so far, they have not been found to have links with Hansita,
However, the central agency is probing if the other super-class contractors were associated with Hansita in any manner. “Preliminary probe suggests the suspected tax evasion took place over the last five years by producing fake labour and construction material bills by the super-class contractors. On the day, Rs 1.5 crore was seized during the searches and the amount is expected to go up as further probe is underway,” said the sources.
Searches were conducted in Bhubaneswar, Balangir, Kantabanji, Boudh, Sonepur, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda as well as at Raipur in Chhattisgarh. Out of the eight super class contractors, four including are accused of evading taxes on a large scale, said sources.
Trailing the financials of Hansita and her associate Anil Mohanty, the I-T department had last week stumbled upon transactions worth crores of rupees with a corporate entity. The central agency’s officers are investigating if some of these contractors were hand-in-glove with Hansita.