Income Tax officials knocked on the doors of bullion traders and hawala operators on Netaji Subash Chandra Bose Road (NSC Bose Road) late on Friday evening.
After they got a tip-off that currency notes in the denominations of Rs. 500 and Rs 1,000 were being traded secretly, around 50 officers were deployed for the operation. A senior official from the Income Tax Department confirmed the raids and said 12 shops were being searched. The officers had been strictly instructed not to disclose the names of the shops being searched. “We will be able to give information only after the searches are over,” he said.
On NSC Bose Road, there was a huge traffic jam despite fewer crowds. The IT officials randomly walked into shops and were enquiring, sources said.
Employees working in the shops pretended that nothing really happened and they stood at their counters watching the media outside through the glass doors. The security outside the shops refused to allow people entry into the shops.
The NSC Bose Road houses gold shops. Several gold and diamond merchants have their base here.
