Rs 95 crore, 120 kg gold seized in Income-Tax raids

The I-T sleuths raided the premises belonging to Shekar Reddy and his associate Srinivasa Reddy. The businessmen were primarily engaged in sand quarrying. The officials also searched the premises owned by the agents of the businessmen. I-T officials said out of the money recovered, Rs 8 crore were of the new Rs 2,000 denomination and the remaining in denominations of the old currencies. The officials also recovered 100 kg gold worth Rs 30 crore. Based on a tip-off, the sleuths raided a star hotel in Teynampet and seized 100 kg gold from the room booked in the name of the agents by the Reddys, officials added. I-T officials are now investigating how the businessmen managed to raise Rs 10 crore in the new currency denomination. “We suspect the connivance of bank officials in this and are investigating further,” an I-T official said. The raids were not over at the time of going to press and more cash and gold were expected to be seized.