Bhubaneswar: The Income Tax (I-T) Department carried out simultaneous raids at 20 places across the state, including in the Capital city here, related to real estate major DN Group on charges of tax evasion, Wednesday. Sources in know of the development said the I-T sleuths raided DN Group’s office and residences of its founder and managing director Jagadish Prasad Naik and employees here over alleged tax evasion. “The sleuths have recovered Rs 30 crore in cash from the rented accommodation of Chandrasekhar Panda, an employee of the real estate company, at Postal-BSNL Colony in Unit IV area of the City. Panda’s father, a retired BSNL employee, has been residing nearby,” sources informed.
Around 15 I-T sleuths, in presence of local police, raided Panda’s residence in the morning. During the raid, the sleuths claimed to have recovered four suitcases containing Rs 30 crore and bank passbooks related to the real estate company. Sources informed that several documents have also been seized for examination by the IT officials.
However, there has been no official statement from the I-T Department so far on the raids being conducted at various places. Sources said that the I-T raids would continue for another two or three days. Many heavyweights have invested in the real estate firm, sources said. Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal targeted the state government on the issue. “Who is behind the success of DN Group? How corrupt and those with black money are so close to the CMO?” Biswal asked. DN Group was unavailable for comments. The group is a leading business conglomerate in Odisha and owns a number of housing projects and malls at several locations.
