Sleuths face 'dog attack' after detecting Rs 20 cr evasion

Excise officials were attacked by dogs let loose during the searches at the home of one of the directors of a private iron and steel company in Uttar Pradesh in connection with alleged excise duty evasion to the tune of Rs 20 crore.

Excise officials were attacked by dogs let loose during the searches at the home of one of the directors of a private iron and steel company in Uttar Pradesh in connection with alleged excise duty evasion to the tune of Rs 20 crore.

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One of the officials was injured after he was bitten by the dog, according to official sources.

An FIR has also been registered against the director concerned for letting the dogs on the excise officials and hampering their work, they added.

Acting on an intelligence input, a team of Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) in New Delhi conducted searches in the official and residential premises of directors of M/s Trikoot Iron and Steel Casting Ltd, Muzaffarnagar.

The company, which was asked on phone to give its comments on the dog attack, did not give any response yet.

The officials carried out search operations in the factory, head office and residence of directors of the firm early this month, the sources said.

The sleuths faced severe resistance at some of the places during the course of search. Prima facie, the excise duty evasion is at least Rs 20 crore, the sources said.

According to DGCEI sources, the officers were attacked by two dogs during the searches at the residence of one of the directors of the company.

While the officers were trying to fend off the canines, the director concerned was allegedly trying to remove hard disc from a computer installed in his residence, the sources said.

Later, the situation was brought under the control with the help of additional police force and the hard disc was recovered after a thorough search. But an officer of the DGCEI was bitten by the dog, they said.

The sleuths also found a secret office being operated from a kitchen of the director's residence.

The company was allegedly found to be evading excise duty by showing less sales and through other fraudulent means. The data was also being stored in computers installed in secret office being operated from kitchen and other rooms of the director's residence, the sources said.

These computers were connected with well concealed wires and select employees of the businessman were making entry of both accounted and unaccounted sales made by the factory on daily basis, they said.

The tax officials were also able to retrieve data from the hard discs of these computers which were well secured and password protected.

The officers also recovered other incriminating documents from the residential and other premises. The company made sales of 'saria' (rods) to the tune of Rs 100 crore during the last three months but showed sales of Rs 35 crore on papers, the sources claimed.

The director of the company has admitted to tax liability and deposited Rs 1 crore on the spot, they said, adding that the further investigation in the case was continuing.