The Income Tax Department on early Thursday morning launched a major consequential search operation in five districts of Chhattisgarh, covering residential premises of five mining officials, in addition to a tour-travels office, in Jagdalpur, Amibikapur, Surajpur, Balrampur, Bilaspur and Raipur districts respectively.

The search termed as ‘consequential’ is being overseen by Director General, (Investigation, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh) Ajay Shrivastava along with Principal Director (Investigation) A K Tripathi. Separate teams of tax investigators from Bhopal were conducting the searches. “The fresh action was necessitated since it had to do with startling findings discovered after five-day long searches conducted on a group engaged in the business of coal transportation and other allied activities. Premises of a senior government officer, was also covered in the search, which was conducted between June 30 and July 4, 2022 at over 30 premises in Raipur, Bhilai, Raigarh, Korba, Bilaspur and Surajpur etc,” a senior I-T official confided to ‘The Hitavada’. According to the sources, multiple teams of tax sleuths conducted searches at the residences of Deputy Director (Mining) Shiv Shanker Nag in Jagdalpur; Mining Officer Bajrang Singh Paikra in Ambikapur; Mining Officer Sandeep Nayak in Surajpur; Awadhesh Barik in Balrampur and N K Soor, a retired Mining Officer in Bilaspur, in addition to the office premise of M/s Shubh Yatra, situated at Shop-23, 3rd Floor of Magneto-The Mall, in Raipur, owned by some Pawan Kumar. “Taxmen accompanied by armed troopers of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) commenced the concurrent searches at 6 am on Thursday,” the sources added. In Jagdalpur, the taxmen were doing searches at the rented house of Deputy Director (Mining) Shiv Shankar Nag, situated at Dharampura locality, whereas the official residence of Assistant Mining Officer Bajran Singh Paikra at Digma Officer Colony in Ambikapur was also swarming with tax watchdogs. Similarly, a plush residential bungalow of retired Mining Office N K Sur, situated at Green Garden Colony, near Maharana Pratap Chowk in Bilaspur, was under the control of visiting taxmen from Bhopal. Sur retired as District Mining Officer from Janjgir-Champa a few months ago. Senior tax officials were learnt to have been recording the statement of all five the mining officers following the recovery of incriminating financial documents and other evidence from their respective residences during the ongoing search ops. “All the entry and exit points of the residences of the two officials were being wellguarded by CRPF troopers and only a select few people were allowed to move in and out from these premises,” the sources added. If sources are to be believed all the mining officers were learnt to be hand-in-gloves with the same Raipur-based coal businessman, who amassed wealth and assets through unfair regular collection on coal transportation throughout the State of Chhattisgarh leading to generation of huge unaccounted income worth over Rs 200 crore.