Tax evasion case against Rajasthan group: IT raids in Jaipur, Delhi

New Delhi, July 13: The Income Tax Department is conducting searches in four cities, including Delhi and Jaipur, in connection with a tax evasion case against a Rajasthan-based hydropower infrastructure company and some linked business groups, officials said on Monday.

They said the raids have been launched early morning in Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai and Kota and premises of the promoters are being covered.

At least 80 tax sleuths apart from police officials are part of the action, they said.

They said the department initiated action on the basis of inputs of huge cash transactions taking place and the business group's alleged links to these transactions.

The group being searched has interests in hydro mechanical equipments and was awarded a contract to build a dam in Rajasthan in 2018.

Searches are also being conducted on a person liked to this business group who owns a jewellery group in Jaipur, they said.

Official sources did not comment on reports claiming that the searches were linked to the current political crisis in the state.

Rajasthan is witnessing an intense power tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot.

The Congress on Sunday had dispatched two of its senior leaders as central observers to Jaipur to talk to its MLAs, even as the party's general secretary in-charge of the state asserted that the government was stable and will complete its full term.

The action by the Congress leadership came in the midst of widening rift between Gehlot, who convened a meeting of MLAs, including of Independent legislators supporting his government in what appeared to be a show of strength, and Pilot, who is camping in the national capital since Saturday and skipped the meet.