Polls for the 243-member Bihar Assembly will be held in three phases (Representational)
The Income Tax Department has seized cash and bullion worth Rs 2.4 crore after it raided two government contractors in poll-bound Bihar, the Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) said on Wednesday.
It said the searches were conducted on Monday on two contractors who have premises in Purnea, Katihar and Saharsa apart from a silk trader in Bhagalpur district on suspicion that "large scale unaccounted cash was being generated and used for various purposes."
"During the search, unaccounted cash, fixed deposits and bullion of more than Rs 2.40 crore have been seized and restrained," the CBDT, which is the administrative authority for the I-T department, said in a statement.
"In the case of the silk trader, unaccounted stock has also been detected. Evidences indicating suppression of income of about Rs 10 crore, along with documents showing large unaccounted investments in immovable properties have been found and seized," it said.
These properties are in the process of being valued and attached, it said. The board did not identify the entities raided by it in the poll-bound state.
Polls for the 243-member Bihar Assembly will be held in three phases -- October 28, November 3 and November 7 -- and counting of votes will be held on November 10.
The CBDT said the contractors were making "bogus" claims of labour, transportation and fuel expenses that was "not supported" by any document.
"They have been found to be withdrawing money in cash from the bank accounts of fictitious parties. Incriminating documents including signed blank cheques have been seized during the searches," it said.
In some cases, the liabilities were shown to be continuing in the books of accounts for bogus expenses, it said.
"They were also maintaining undisclosed bank accounts, in which unaccounted cash was being deposited which was used for making fixed deposits, which in turn were pledged to government departments as security for getting contracts," it said.
"Large cash withdrawals have also been noticed in these bank accounts. The assessees could not explain the purpose of these cash withdrawals," it said.
The department is examining transactions in the undisclosed bank accounts, it said.