Income Tax department raids 20 jewellers' offices, homes

Mumbai: The income-tax department’s Thane unit has conducted searches at the official and residential premises of around 20 jewellers under the suspicions that they sold gold in lieu of demonetised notes. It is suspected that the jewellers accepted old notes by charging extra for the gold.

“A surge in the jewellers’  sale of gold was noticed. It is suspected that the gold was sold on the basis of fabricated, back-dated receipts through scrapped notes were accepted,” said a source from I-T department.

The department is verifying if shell firms were used to place orders with the jewellers to buy the gold irregularly in lieu of scrapped notes and if payments were made using bank accounts, said the source.

The source, however, declined to reveal details related to the quantum of the gold sold in the irregular manner, saying the probe is at a “crucial and sensitive” stage.

According to I-T sources, the accused came under scanner after a jeweller deposited huge amounts of cash in his bank account on the pretext that they earned.