The Income Tax Department conducted its largest raid to date, seizing an unprecedented Rs 352 crore in cash last year. The operation, which took place in December 2023 against a distillery group in Odisha, involved a rigorous 10-day effort of counting and securing the seized currency.
On August 21, 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recognised the efforts of the Income Tax team responsible for the significant operation. The team, led by Principal Director of Income Tax Investigation SK Jha and Additional Director Gurpreet Singh, was awarded the ‘CBDT Certificate of Excellence’ during a ceremony in Bhubaneswar. The event was part of the celebrations marking the 165th anniversary of the Income Tax department.
The operation, which lasted for 10 days, resulted in the largest cash seizure by any agency in the country so far. On December 6 last year, Singh, a 2010 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), played a crucial role in the raid targeting several premises of an Odisha-based distillery group based on actionable intelligence.
During the search, the department utilised a specialised scanning machine to detect valuables buried underground. To manage the massive amount of cash, 36 note-counting machines were used, and various banks and their employees assisted in the counting process. In total, Rs 351.8 crore was recovered from the operation.
The Income Tax Department is now focusing on recovering outstanding tax demands. Officials are being instructed to monitor 5,000 cases where a total of Rs 43 lakh crore is to be collected.
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