The Jamuu region's business community Thursday sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah's intervention to frequent Income Tax raids over their ventures, terming the action as an "intentional targeting of the business people."
In a letter to Home Minister Shah, Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Rakesh Gupta said the raids ahead of the annual Amarnath pilgrimage are "spoiling the peaceful atmosphere and leaving one and all frustrated."
The IT Department conducted a series of raids across the state, searching properties of several politicians and their relatives besides those businessmen.
"We would like to submit that it has become a common practice to conduct raids at the premises of business community people particularly in Jammu province which has left us perplexed, baffled and astonished," said Gupta in his letter to Shah.
The home minister reached Srinagar Wednesday on a two-day visit to the Kashmir valley.
Gupta said the annual Amarnath Yatra is commencing on July 1 and the pilgrimage is of prime importance for the people of Jammu province religiously but "these actions by the tax department are spoiling the peaceful atmosphere and leaving one and all in a chaotic situation".
"JCCI has always stood by the government as far as the collection of taxes is concerned because we strongly believe and advocate that the tax collections are imperative for nation building," he said, urging the home minister to take "effective and corrective" steps to ensure that central investigating agencies nail real tax evaders.
Seeking time from the home minister either in Delhi or during his visit to Jammu region in future, Gupta said, "We would like to reiterate with all our conviction that corruption is at its peak and being done by the babus holding high positions and almost a situation of 'Inspector Raj' is prevailing that is most unfortunate and unfriendly for the business world."
"The real culprits have been left free as the state police Vigilance Department and the State Accountability Commission are almost non-functional," he said, seeking directions to the Income Tax Department to act with caution.
He said the business community is "struggling to survive" with ventures of many of them being on the verge of closure.
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