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ED raids human hair merchants in Andhra Pradesh
In a statement, the ED said that while investigating a money-laundering case against Chinese betting apps, hawala transactions to the tune of ₹16 crore came to light which was paid to a human hair exporter. A separate investigation was later launched
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it carried out a search operation at 8 premises of human hair exporters in Hyderabad and West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh in connection with a Foreign Exchange Management Act violation case and seized ₹2.90 crore “unaccounted” cash
In a statement, the ED said that while investigating a money-laundering case against Chinese betting apps, hawala transactions to the tune of ₹16 crore came to light which was paid to a human hair exporter. A separate investigation was later launched.
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According to the statement, the ED found several domestic hair merchants were aggregating and selling raw hair to foreigners based in Hyderabad, Guwahati and Kolkata. The hair was then smuggled from Manipur, Mizoram, and Myanmar to China. The Chinese merchants allegedly labelled the hair as domestic and avoided 28% import duty. The ED alleged that many Indian exporters have been undervaluing their products.
In course of the searches, the ED seized 12 mobile phones, three laptops, a computer, diaries, account books, and sheets of paper which they said contained incriminating evidence.
The ED said two Hyderabad-based merchants received 3.38 crore for domestic sales to Northeast merchants through an illegal Chinese app. The agency added a few Myanmarese living in Hyderabad have been purchasing human hair locally and then exporting it to Myanmar by using the IEC code of Indian persons at under-valued prices. The difference amount is settled either locally or through hawala channels, it said. It said further investigation into the matter is going on.
