Massive Income Tax Raids in Andamans: Tax Official

Income Tax Department officials over 120 are conducting raids in several sites throughout the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a top official said on Saturday. The searches, which began on December 4 due to suspected irregularities in filing returns by some businessmen in the archipelago, are still ongoing, according to an I-T official.

“A Kolkata-based income tax team is conducting raids on many offices in Port Blair’s Church Road, Phoenix Bay, Marine Hills, Aberdeen Bazaar, and Dilanipur sectors. Search operations are also underway in the Babu Lane and Junglighat areas,” the official added.

He said, “Similar raids are taking place in offices on MG Road and Gurdwara Lane.”

“It is a well-coordinated effort, and we will release what we discovered soon. We suspect irregularities in filing returns and GST-related issues,” the official stated.

A team of more than 120 Income Tax officials from Kolkata arrived at Veer Savarkar International Airport on December 4, and they also warned airport officials to prevent businessmen whose offices are being examined from boarding flights out of Port Blair, according to another department source.