Kanpur raid: 36 hours, 5 note counting machines and Rs 150 cr in cash in tax haul

 The tax raids at premises linked to Kanpur businessman Piyush Jain lasted for over 36 hours and led to the recovery of over Rs 150 crore cash.

Cash retrieved by Income Tax officials from UP businessman Piyush Jain's residence during a raid, in Kanpur. (PTI Photo)

It took over 36 hours and the help of five machines to count sheer amount of notes recovered from a perfume trader's house in Kanpur following a raid by a joint team of the Income Tax department and the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). The raid, which started on Thursday, led to the recovery of Rs 150 crore cash at Piyush Jain’s house.

During the searches at the residential premises of the UP businessman, the I-T officials found several shelves full of notes. The huge amount of cash were wrapped in paper.

KANPUR RAID

The Ahmedabad unit of the GST (Goods & Services Tax) Intelligence initiated a search operation on the factory premises of Kanpur’s Trimurti Fragrance Private Limited and the office and godowns of Ganpati Road Carriers. While Trimurti Fragrance Private Limited are manufacturers of Shikhar brand Pan Masala and Tobacco products, Ganpati Road Carriers are involved in transportation of goods.

According to the officials, the transporter reportedly would generate multiple invoices in the name of non-existent firms, all below Rs 50,000 for one full truck load, to avoid generation of e-way Bills while moving the goods.

“The transporter was also collecting the sale proceeds of such clandestine supply in cash and handing it over to the manufacturer, after deducting his commission,” read the statement by the DGGI.

The officers allegedly intercepted and seized four such trucks outside the factory premises, cleared from the factory without invoices and e-way bills.

More than 200 fake invoices used for transportation of goods without payment of GST were also recovered from the premises of the transporter, Ganpati Road Carriers. An amount of Rs 1.01 crore in cash has allegedly been seized from the possession of the transporter.

The residential premises of businessman Piyush Jain in Kanpur (partners of Odochem Industries in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj), who were supplying perfumery compounds, mostly in cash, to the company was also searched.

Following the raid, a container was brought in to move the recovered cash from Piyush Jain’s residence. As many as 21 boxes full of notes have been taken from the businessman's house at Anandpuri.