Panama Papers: Income Tax dept conducts raids at over 25 locations in Delhi-NCR

The Income Tax (IT) department on Tuesday conducted searches at over 25 locations in Delhi and the National Capital Region in connection with its tax evasion probe into the Panama Papers leak cases, official sources said.

The I-T teams swooped down on three business groups, which had interests in metals and food processing, financial services and tyres, they added.

The department had recovered about Rs 4 crore cash and jewellery during the ongoing searches in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Faridabad till now, the sources said, adding that a number of documents, computer hard discs and CDs were seized.

The names and links of the business groups had featured in the PanamaBSE 1.08 per cent Papers and it was detected that these entities were "highly suppressing" their actual turnover and income, they said.

At least 25 locations in Delhi-NCR were covered during today's search-and-survey operations, the sources added.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which frames the policies of the IT department, had recently said that the probe into the Panama Papers leak cases had led to the detection of undisclosed wealth of Rs 792 crore and that the probe was on in "full swing".