A search and seizure operation was conducted by the Income Tax Department on the ARCO Group of Kashmir on 9th and 10th October. The ARCO Group is controlled by the prominent Anim family of Sopore including the famous businessmen Sh. Javid Ahmad Anim & Sh. Imran Latif Anim. The business group has widespread activities in the sectors of Cement, Steel, Glass, Ply, Construction, Hotel, Textiles and Healthcare.
In a first, the team of Officers of the Income Tax Department raided over more than 40 premises of the ARCO Group, across Srinagar, Sopore, Budgam, Sonmarg, Pulwama & Delhi. In this massive operation, over 250 Investigators of the Tax Department continued the raid for 2 days in the Valley.
Seizure of incriminating documents, diaries and digital devices has been made by the Officers on a large scale, unearthing tax evasion of more than hundreds of crores. Other than grossly under-reporting its business income, it has been gathered that the key persons of the Group were found in possession of large amounts of black money and undisclosed properties. The group is now under the scanner of the Tax Administrators for suppression of vast income and wealth, with further investigation being underway. Moreover, sources have alleged that huge evidences have been collected against many other undisclosed persons of Kashmir pertaining to enormous transactions of unaccounted cash.
The raid by the Tax Sleuths comes after a gap of almost a year after the action last year on the Khyber Group of the Trumboo Family. It has been gathered that the scale of this operation on the ARCO Group was unprecedented across enforcement agencies, with widespread repercussions across sectors of the Kashmir Valley.
