Rs1.89 crore in cash seized from builders’ lockers in Ahmedabad

Here is another 'hot' reminder of how much money realtors are churning out these days. A raid on the office of a city-based builder unearthed a whopping Rs1.89 crore in cash. Income-tax officials, who went into a tizzy after their huge discovery, had to call for a couple of counting machines and then wait for nearly three hours to count the entire amount.

With the latest seizure, a total of Rs4 crore in cash has been seized from Savaliya Builders and their associates in the operation which was started by the officials of directorate of income-tax (investigation) on January 7.

The search and seizure operation revealed tax evasion to the tune of Rs71 crore. Besides Savaliya Builders, Karnavati Residency and their business partners were also apprehended.

"The revelations are quite unexpected. We did have a hunch that these builders were evading taxes, but these findings are overwhelming. We had got solid information before we started the operation, that the group has invested large sums in land and other properties in the eastern parts of the city," said a source.

The source added that while Savaliya Group has confessed to tax evasion to the tune of Rs45 crore, Karnavati Residency admitted to an undisclosed amount of Rs3 crore. Its small-time partners also reportedly admitted to unaccounted money worth Rs15 crore.

Builder Narayan Gajera, who is a partner of Savaliya Builders, has also admitted to tax evasion of Rs3 crore. The builder had allegedly hid Rs54 lakh cash at one Raman Vanjara's house in Rakanpur.