Massive Income Tax raids underway in Andamans: Official

Port Blair: Over 120 officials of the Income Tax Department are conducting searches at multiple locations in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a senior official said on Saturday.

The searches started on December 4 over suspected irregularities in filing returns by some businessmen in the archipelago, and are underway, the I-T official said.

"An I-T team from Kolkata is conducting raids in several offices in Church Road, Phoenix Bay, Marine Hills, Aberdeen Bazaar and Dilanipur areas of Port Blair. Search operations are also underway in Babu Lane and Junglighat areas," the official said.

Similar raids are underway in offices on MG Road and Gurdwara Lane, he said.

"It is a well-coordinated operation and we will reveal the findings soon. We suspect irregularities in filing returns and GST-related issues," the official said.

A team of over 120 I-T officials from Kolkata landed at Veer Savarkar International Airport here on December 4, and they also alerted the airport officials to prevent the businessmen whose offices are being searched from boarding flights to leave Port Blair, another source in the department said.