Surat income Tax department swoops down on diamantaires and realtors, a day after the first phase of polling ended

Surat (Gujarat) : The Income Tax department conducted a massive search and seizure operation targeting the diamantaires and realtors to unearth huge amounts of disproportionate income and Benami assets in Surat on Friday. The operation has come a day after the first phase of polling in south Gujarat and Saurashtra ended on Thursday.

The operation was conducted by the Investigation Wing of the I-T department on Friday. About 150 I-T sleuths were involved in the operation and the searches were conducted at over 40 locations in Surat’s Varachha and Vesu areas.

I-T officials swooped down on the offices, residences, and factories of the diamantaires and realtors in Varachha and Vesu on Friday.

The search operation was conducted at the two diamond companies and over a dozen well-known realtors in Surat. Bhavana Gems owned by Ashok Sojitra and Dhanera Group’s Ajbani diamonds owned by Arvind Ajbani were raided by the I-T officials in Varachha.

The realtors identified as Ramesh Chogath alias Ramesh Vaghasia, Kadar alias Kadar Kothmir, Naresh Video alias Naresh Patel, Arvind Bicchu were also included in the search and seizure operation in the Vesu and Adajan areas on Friday.

The raids are the fallout of the Rs 200 crore land deal in Surat’s Vesu area few months ago for the construction of the hospital project. The diamond diamantaires and realtors were involved in the purchase of the huge land parcel.

The I-T officials believe that the diamantaires and realtors have invested money from Benami sources for the hospital project. The diamantaires are believed to have funded the project. The I-T has launched the operation to know the source of income for the purchase of such a huge parcel of land in Surat.

According to information, these businessmen have been on the radar of the Income Tax Department for a long time, and raids on their homes, factories, and offices have only been conducted after the first phase of elections. At the moment, following a thorough investigation conducted at all locations by Income Tax Department officials, it is also being stated that income, including Benami properties, will be unearthed from these businessmen on a large scale in the coming days.

The Income Tax Department has been dormant for quite some time now, following the Gujarat Assembly elections. Various industrial houses, including Diamond, were closely monitored by Income Tax Department officials during this time. Meanwhile, following the completion of the first phase of the election process in Surat and Kutch, as well as Saurashtra, the Income Tax Department went into action this morning.