Chennai: The sleuths of the GST investigation wing on Friday raided two stores of a popular retail chain, Saravana stores, in the city on suspicion of tax evasion.
According to sources, the 100-people-strong team was involved in the searches at two stores in the city, one on T.Nagar and another in MTH road in Padi. The teams went through books of accounts and other documents, looking for any illegal or benami deals.
The raids which began at around 7 am on Friday is being carried out based on information relating to alleged tax evasion by the company. The main focus of the raid on Saravana stores is the books of the stores itself, the textile business specifically.
The surprise search comes after I-T department officials searched over 70 locations related to Saravana Stores and Lotus group in Tamil Nadu in January. The raids were initiated after the income tax department got a tip-off about tax evasion by rigging the accounting software. It is alleged that during the raid in January, the I-T sleuths seized money and documents worth Rs.434 crore.
Shutters were not down at Saravana stores at the two places and operated s usula, sources said. “We have information about tax evasion and unaccounted money. We need to check their account books to ascertain whether their incomes and taxes tally,” said the official.
