Leading jewellery group under I-T Dept scanner

According to sources, more than 200 Income Tax officers were involved in the searches that began on Tuesday morning. The raids were carried out after the department received information regarding the alleged tax evasion by the company, sources said.

Apart from Chennai, showrooms in other cities like Salem, Coimbatore were also raided by the I-T teams. Jewellery manufacturing units of the firm in Athupalam, Coimbatore, were also under the I-T scanner.

After the raids began on Tuesday, the showroom managers had reportedly asked its employees not to come for work. The headquarters of the jewellers is located in Kozhikode, Kerala while its corporate office is located in Dubai. It has over 250 retail outlets and 13,000 employees across 10 countries. The group also has its own centres for the jewellery designing, manufacture and distribution.

The raids come after the I-T Department conducted searches in 70 locations of a retail store and real estate firm in the State a couple of weeks ago. Sources in the Income Tax Department claimed that several documents were seized during the raids and scrutiny of the same is under way. Final details of estimated tax evasion will emerge only after the raids are completed, they added.