IT dept raids 54 jewellers across Maharashtra

Pune – In a massive co-ordinated raid, sleuths from the investigation wing of the Income Tax are searching 54 jewellers across the state for their high cash deposits in banks post demonetisation.

Sources from the IT department said that the search and survey actions on jewellers is in context of high value cash deposits. The surveys are being conducted on 54 entities covering 64 premises at 16 locations including Pune (13), Kolhapur(3), Solapur (5), Nagpur (9), Amaravati (2), Wardha (2), Akola (4), Nasik (7), Khamgaon (1), Palghar (2), Vasai (1), Thane (5), Kalyan (4), Ulhasnagar (2), Bhayander (1), Dombivali (1).

There are three prominent jewellers from Pune.

The searches began on Wednesday morning and continued till late night. The jewellers are accused of accepting banned currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 after the demonetisation to convert black money into white. There was sudden rise in deposits by these jewellers, sources said.