Guwahati: A special team of income-tax officers, set up to check the use of black money during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, has detected and seized more than Rs 1.30 crore black money in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland so far.
The flying squads, the static surveillance teams and the police have seized Rs 18.27 lakh from Itanagar over the last couple of days, raising the total amount of cash seized within the capital region of Arunachal Pradesh to Rs 99.59 lakh in past three days.
Informing that apart from cash, the surveillance teams have also seized large quantities of liquor, besides 238 sharp weapons, two airguns, 14 live rounds for SBBL guns, 15 live rounds for .32 revolvers and 5,000 airgun pellets in Itanagar, security sources said that the income-tax department has started the special drive from the day the elections were announced.
Giving details of the modus operandi used by the income-tax department, sources said that more than 150 officers have been deployed in the region, while at least around 50 others have been kept in the reserve to be deployed whenever and wherever required. Sources said that two to three districts have been clubbed under one team of officers and it would be the responsibility of the teams to try and curb use of black money during the elections in the areas under their jurisdiction.
The control rooms set up in the districts will maintain regular contact with the regional office of the department and whenever required, raids will be conducted. Any person can provide information about use of black money in the elections, either to the head office of the department or to the district control rooms so that prompt action can be taken.
Special teams of the department have also been deployed in eight airports of the Northeast to check possible transportation of black money by air. The Income Tax department personnel deployed in the airports are working in close coordination with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) deployed for airport security.
Moreover, the Income Tax department is also maintaining regular contact with the other security and law enforcing agencies as there is every possibility of personnel of such organisations receiving information about black money use by political parties, candidates or their supporters during the elections.
