Raids on businessmen in Karnataka for tax evasion

Bengaluru: Teams of Income-Tax (I-T) sleuths raided certain businessmen in Bengaluru, Hassan and Mandya in poll-bound Karnataka on credible information of tax evasion on undisclosed income and assets, an official said on Tuesday.

"The searches being conducted on Tuesday are based on credible intelligence that certain businessmen have earned income not disclosed for tax and are in possession of undisclosed assets," the tax official said in a statement here.

The raids are underway in 5 residences at Hassan and one residence each at Mandya and Bengaluru.

Hassan is 180 km northwest of Bengaluru, while Mandya is 100 km southwest of the state capital.

The raids coincide with the last day of campaigning for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 14 constituencies in the state's central and southern regions on April 18.

"The non-taxpayers under our search operations are engaged in the business of real estate, quarrying and stone crushing, executing government contracts, running petrol bunks and saw mills and managing cooperative banks.

"These are the sectors which are prone to generation of black money," the statement said.