Income tax raids at 9 locations in Bengal including ex-MLA and trader’s home

I-T officials said the raids followed investigations which indicated tax evasion on income related to the sale of scrap from the Asansol steel plant

KOLKATA: The Income Tax department on Wednesday conducted searches at nine places in the Asansol-Raniganj industrial belt of West Bengal’s West Burdwan district, including the residential premises of former Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Sohrab Ali, and scrap metal trader Md Imtiaz Ahmed, people familiar with the matter said.

More than 40 tax officials, escorted by central paramilitary force personnel, conducted the raids, an official said. (Pradeep Gaur/ Mint/Representative Image)

More than 40 tax officials, escorted by central paramilitary force personnel, conducted the raids, an official said.

There was no official word on the searches by the tax department.

I-T officials said the raids followed investigations which indicated tax evasion on income related to the sale of scrap from the Asansol plant of the Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO), a subsidiary of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL). This undeclared income was allegedly pumped into several businesses, including the real estate, one I-T official said on condition of anonymity.

Ali won the Raniganj assembly seat in 2011 on a TMC ticket but the party distanced itself from him after a local court convicted him in 2015 in a case of stealing scrap metal from railway wagons. His wife is currently a municipal councillor at Raniganj.

TMC leaders refused to comment on Wednesday’s raids.

Wednesday’s searches come against the backdrop of the tax department’s recovery of a record ₹353 crore in cash during raids at premises linked to Boudh Distillery Private Limited, which is based in Odisha’s Boudh district, began in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The company is linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dheeraj Sahu.