Income Tax raids 20 locations across Kolkata over alleged tax evasion

Kolkata: Officials of the Income Tax Department launched a coordinated enforcement operation on Monday morning, conducting simultaneous raids and search operations at 20 different locations in and around Kolkata. The actions form part of a major probe into alleged income tax evasion, unaccounted assets, and discrepancies between declared income and actual wealth.

Among the key sites being searched is the residence of a prominent businessman in the upscale Raja Santosh Road area of Alipore in South Kolkata. IT teams are also searching his office premises in Chetla, though the department has not officially disclosed the businessman’s identity.

In addition, another business figure’s residential flat in the Action Area-III area of New Town — a high-end housing locality on Kolkata’s northern outskirts — is under scrutiny.

Other operations are underway at three commercial addresses: one at Ecospace in New Town, another on Park Street in central Kolkata, and a third near Gurusaday Dutta Road in South Kolkata. A separate team is also conducting a raid at the residence of a real estate promoter in Barasat, the administrative headquarters of the North 24 Parganas district.

All teams are being accompanied by personnel from the central armed police forces, underscoring the scale and seriousness of the investigation.

While the Income Tax Department has not officially disclosed the names of the entities under scrutiny, sources said the searches are linked to the Shrachi Group, industrialist Aditya Khaitan, and the Pasari Group in connection with the McNally Bharat Group.

These latest searches come against the backdrop of increased enforcement activity in West Bengal by central agencies, including recent money-laundering raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in various tax and fraud cases.