56 kg gold, Rs 2.2 cr seized from vibuthi, panchamirtham makers

Besides this huge seizure, the searches carried out at the premises of Sithanathan Sons Group and Sri Kanda Vilas Group also helped the taxmen to seize documents that indicated that the undisclosed income of the two firms could be from Rs 90 crore to Rs 100 crore, sources noted. Both firms are leading panchamirtham and vibuthi manufacturers in Palani, where famous Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple, one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan, is located. Panchamirtham and vibuthi are the main prasadams of the temple. Two weeks ago, Palani panchamirtham was given Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Income Tax officers noted that the two groups have filed their tax returns showing only a meagre total income in the range of Rs 40,000 to Rs 10,00,000 although their scale of business much bigger than that. Their investments, too, are said to be high in nature.

After scrutinising the seized papers, including bank details and property documents, Income Tax department has said that their operation had resulted in detection of undisclosed income to the tune of Rs 93.56 crore. “Undisclosed income is huge, as they were filing returns claiming that their annual income was in the range of Rs 40,000 to Rs 10 lakh,” official said. Income Tax sources also noted that the group had been running the business within the joint family of more than 30 members. All these years, they never left behind any paper trail. All transactions were carried out based on trust, sources said.