Income Tax sleuths seize cash, gold in Karnataka

“We have stepped up surveillance and monitoring of activities in view of the state assembly election. Seizure in higher denomination rises eyebrows, as people are finding difficulty in drawing cash from banks and ATMs due to its shortage in some parts of the country,” asserted Ramesh. High alertness at airports and railway stations across the state led to detection of a person carrying Rs 16.5-lakh in cash at one of the airports without valid proof of its source. “A follow-up action against the accused person led to detection and seizure of additional Rs 37 lakh in his Mumbai premises. We have seized all the cash amounting to Rs 53.50 lakh,” pointed out Ramesh. In raid, the sleuths seized Rs 55 lakh in cash from a person to whom a contractor paid in a districts and confession by the latter of concealing Rs 16 crore to evade paying income tax on it. In another case, household articles valued at Rs 9.51 crore intended for distribution was found in a warehouse near Mysuru. (IANS)