KOCHI: The investigation wing of the Income Tax Department on Saturday seized Rs 70 lakh from the Palakkad office of the Karuna Medical College Trust, suspected to be unaccounted cash.
The surprise raid was launched on Friday night, based on a tip-off, and continued until Saturday afternoon. Of the seized cash, currencies worth Rs 50 lakh were in the 500 and 1,000 denominations. There were also currencies of 2,000 denomination worth Rs 20 lakh.
“So far, the the hospital management under the Safe Development Alms Trust could not provide any explanation with regard to the source of the seized cash. A case has been registered against the Trust, and the cash would be released only after the management provides the relevant documents with proper explanation,” said an IT official, adding that they had been closely monitoring activities of the Trust for a long time. Even the banking activities of the Trust were under surveillance.
“Since the Trust authorities could not provide proper explanation with regard to source of the income, we believe the money got ‘stuck’ with them after the demonetisation,” said the official.
In the coming days, the IT sleuths will be recording the statement of members of the Trust.
“The Trust members will be asked to appear before the investigation team and provide explanation with regard to the source of the cash,” said IT official.
