Income tax department launches raid in Kolkata and Durgapur

The Income Tax Department has launched a series of raids on 11 locations in Kolkata and Durgapur, focusing on tax evasion and irregularities related to land sales involving Charu Sheela Trust and Faleria Kothi in Jharkhand. This comes after an initial raid at 24 locations in Deoghar and Godda in Jharkhand earlier on Monday. In collaboration with the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the IT team conducted a raid at the residence of Kolkata's chartered accountant, Makhan Satnaliwala.

The search operation spans 22 places, including an ashram in Salt Lake, and has been ongoing since the previous night. These investigations pertain to alleged tax evasion connected to the purchase and sale of land, including transactions involving government land. The tax department suspects that inadequate stamp duty declarations contributed to tax losses, and false documentation may have been used in the liquor business overseen by Makhan Satnaliwala.

 The ongoing searches have been initiated to uncover potential instances of tax evasion and irregularities in land transactions. Tax authorities allege that certain land deals involved both privately owned land and government property, and discrepancies in stamp duty declarations led to income tax losses. Additionally, the raids are targeting the alleged falsification of documents within the liquor business, with the assistance of Makhan Satnaliwala, a chartered accountant based in Kolkata.