Rs 3.5 crore cash, 5 kg gold recovered from Income Tax official

The recoveries were made during simultaneous searches launched by the agency in the morning at 23 locations spread across Kolkata and Ranchi which included residence of Tapas Kumar Dutta, CBI Spokesperson RK Gaur said.

The agency searched 18 locations in Kolkata, including premises of several businessmen, entry operators and a chartered accountant, and five in Ranchi which included three Income Tax department officials besides the Principal Commissioner, he said.

During the searches, the agency recovered Rs 3.5 crore cash and over 5 kg of gold (about Rs 1.4 crore according to current bullion rate) from the residence of Dutta, Gaur said, adding several incriminating documents were also seized.

Text messages sent to Dutta seeking his reaction remained unanswered.

The case pertains to attempts of Dutta to give tax relief to several businessmen who were slapped with severe tax liabilities by the Income Tax department.

Gaur said Dutta allegedly entered in criminal conspiracy with the officials of his department, businessmen, a chartered accountant and several entry operators in 2016-17.

The alleged conspiracy was to get Income Tax assessment files of their different assesse companies transferred from Kolkata and Hazaribagh to Ranchi, where Dutta was posted, for providing undue favour to the assesses, charged with heavy tax liability, in return for huge bribe, he said.

"It was further alleged that the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (Dutta) has already issued favourable orders in the case of private companies, who already paid huge bribe, which was allegedly stashed with a private person," Gaur said.

The CBI recently registered a case against Dutta, Arvind Kumar, Additional Commissioner Income Tax, Income Tax Officer (Tech) Ranjit Kumar Lal, one more Income Tax officer, and chartered accountant Pawan Maurya.

Bishwanath Agarwal, Kolkata-based businessman and director of Anchal Vyapar, private persons Santosh Chaudhary, Santosh Shah, Akash Agarwal, Arvind Agarwal have also been booked in the FIR filed under charges of criminal conspiracy and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.