Income Tax Department conducted search and seizure operations at 5 locations in the Kashmir Valley on Thursday.The searches were carried out against a group which is a monopolistic wholesale distributer of pharmaceuticals in the Kashmir Valley.

It was gathered that the group charged huge premium on life saving drugs which were exclusively sourced through it in the Valley and the extra normal profits earned by this modus operandi were used for investment in real estate in Srinagar, as well as for unaccounted expenditure by the promoter’s family not disclosed in their income tax returns.

The search action has yielded incriminating documents and digital evidence that suggest huge concealment of income by the promoter and his family members. Apparently, Rs. 3.08 crore of on-money in transactions of 2 pieces of land in Srinagar has been earned by the group, which has not been disclosed in the returns of income. The digital evidence in the form of hard disc that has been seized, indicates that a part of the sales proceeds, approximating nearly 10% of the turnover are kept outside the books of accounts to suppress profits.

The search action has also led to unearthing of an undisclosed bank account in the name of a family member of the promoter of the group in the J& K Bank at the Allamgiri Branch in Srinagar.