The Income-Tax (IT) Department conducted 83 raids ahead of the Assembly election held in Tamil Nadu on April 6.
According to sources in the Department, during the raids, around ₹80 crore of cash and other valuables worth ₹23 crore were seized by the sleuths. The Department had deployed over 650 of its officials across the State and special focus was given to 20 sensitive constituencies, where distribution of cash was suspected.
Data provided by the I-T Department showed that during the 2016 Assembly election, the taxmen managed to seize cash to the tune of ₹31.74 crore. During the 2019 election campaigning for Tamil Nadu’s 39 seats in the Lok Sabha, I-T officials conducted several raids and seized ₹80.5 crore in cash and valuables worth ₹1.09 crore.
The Department did not want to provide details on each raid. But during the Assembly election, based on information, certain candidates and associates belonging to both the AIADMK and the DMK were searched.
