Thrissur: In a major operation targeting gold jewellery manufacturing units in Thrissur, known for its gold trade, officials from the Kerala Goods and Services Tax (GST) department have seized 104 kg of unaccounted gold valued at around Rs 75 crore.
This operation, dubbed 'Torre del Oro', is regarded as one of the largest of its kind in the state. The name was adopted from a Spanish word that means 'Tower of Gold'.
The operation commenced on Wednesday evening and continued into Thursday, involving over 700 officials who inspected around 78 locations, including both manufacturing facilities and the homes of jewellers throughout the central Kerala district.
Officers said the Intelligence wing of the state GST Department has been conducting a probe into the alleged GST fraud by jewellery manufacturers over the past six months.
According to official sources, officials found significant irregularities in billing and taxation processes, in addition to the seizure of 104 kg of gold.
Earlier, the sources said that 120 kilograms of unaccounted gold was seized during the raids.
The extensive raids were carried out under the supervision of GST Special Commissioner Abraham Renn S.
Sources added that to ensure secrecy, officials from across the state were summoned to Thrissur under the pretext of a training programme and transported to various locations on buses marked with banners reading "study tour." State GST Intelligence Deputy Commissioner Dinesh Kumar told the media that the operation, Torre del Oro, would continue.
(Based on PTI feed)