The Income Tax department today seized over Rs 45 crore cash, stashed in gunny bags and almirahs, in Kolkata and adjoining areas as part of a crackdown against lottery and hawala dealers suspected to be channeling illegal funds for Dawood Ibrahim gang.
The operation was initiated in the West Bengal capital and adjoining areas in early hours based on inputs provided by the Intelligence Bureau about an alleged fake lottery racket which has its tentacles spread upto Tamil Nadu.
The IT sleuths seized the money shortly before it was to be sent to Dubai today through hawala channels, sources said.
They said the search teams, led by the sleuths of the Kolkata I-T investigations wing, recovered over Rs 45 crore in cash from 16 gunny bags, 27 travel bags and two almirahs from two locations in Kolkata's dingy bylanes.
"Investigators have so far counted Rs 45 crore cash and the amount may go upto Rs 50-55 crore," they said.
A highly-placed Kolkata police officer said various teams, consisting of members of STF and its anti-bank fraud section, helped the tax department sleuths conduct the raids at five places in the city.
"Raids are being conducted at four places in New Alipore police station limits and one on Sarat Bose Road area today," the officer said.
They said the teams, comprising about 100 members including local police, had to deploy about a dozen counting machines to estimate the cash recovered from two firms identified as G Systems and F P Enterprises.
The alleged kingpins, identified as S Nagaarjuna and Santiago Martin, are under the scanner of the agencies. They said Martin was apprehended by Enforcement Directorate about two years ago in Chnennai and had seized from him Rs 7 crore in cash.
The owners of the places raided today were found absconding and the sleuths only came across persons who were appointed as peons there, the police officer said adding no person has been arrested in this connection till now.
"It is suspected these firms were involved in running a fake lottery racket, the criminal proceeds of which were being sent to Dubai to fund the illegal activities of global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. Further investigations are on," they said.
The firms could not be reached for comments.
Sources said the entire racket could be worth about Rs 1,000 crore.
"The agencies are probing if this stash was being ploughed into money laundering activities," they said.
They said a few locations in Siliguri are also being searched by the sleuths even as the teams have recovered and seized a number of documents including bank accounts and business receipts.
