Hyderabad, Oct 7 (IANS) The Income Tax Department on Tuesday conducted searches at multiple locations across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in connection with a Rs 300 crore dal (pulses) trade case.

The sleuths of the Income Tax Wing conducted searches at the premises of four dal traders at 25 locations in the Telugu states.

The searches were carried out in Hyderabad, Guntur, Vijayawada, Kurnool, and Visakhapatnam.

During the raids, conducted as part of an investigation into the dal trade case, the officials seized some key documents.

The department is looking into the allegations that some trading companies resorted to large-scale transactions during the previous government in Andhra Pradesh. The companies allegedly engaged in cash transactions around the 2024 Assembly elections.

These trading companies were given tenders by the Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies Department. The IT Department is trying to verify if these companies failed to supply dal under the Public Distribution System (PDS) despite receiving payments.

Earlier, searches were conducted at the premises of Hindustan Traders in Visakhapatnam and at the premises of the V Care Group companies in Kurnool.

Last month, the Income Tax department had carried out searches at the premises of Caps Gold Company, one of the country’s largest gold traders, over allegations of large-scale black market transactions.

The searches were conducted at around 15 locations in Hyderabad, Warangal, and Vijayawada. IT officials had also searched the company’s headquarters in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.

The department is looking into allegations that the company sourced gold from the black market and diverted large quantities for unaccounted sales.

Caps Gold has been purchasing gold in bulk from the Mineral Development Corporation and supplying it to retail jewellers.

Wholesale firms linked to Caps Gold also came under the scanner of IT authorities for alleged large-scale tax evasion and fraudulent transactions.

–IANS

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