Mumbai: Learning from their past mistakes, the Income Tax (I-T) sleuths will now be watching all monetary transactions and trails during the elections. In 2014 general elections, the investigation wing of I-T in Mumbai had received more than 100 calls, but the department was unable to convert those to concrete leads.
Keeping this in mind, the I-T department has now decided to have six Quick Response Teams (QRTs) — one for each of the six parliamentary constituencies of Mumbai. Speaking at a press conference in Mumbai, Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Kishore K Vyawahare, said, “During the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, we got more than 100 calls.
Unfortunately, we were unable to get effective leads. In such cases, we need to go to the locations and act quickly based on available evidence.” He added that in the Assembly elections, I-T department in Mumbai was able to seize unaccounted money based on the information.
Commenting further on the preparedness of the department, Vyawahare said the department plans to have a system wherein they will respond to a complaint within an hour’s time.
At present, the department has 200 officers and officials who will operate 24X7 during the elections. For swift and quick response to any intelligence information received, the six QRTs act quickly. Vyawahare said, they promise to reach the location within an hour’s time, once they get the information.
He also said, it takes them six to seven hours to complete the entire investigations. Vyawahare requested the citizens to be alert and share more credible information like, location of illegal activities, vehicle number which are carrying moving cash or other valuables.
He added, to have a success rate in such complaints, there should be more potent information. Vyawahare said, “Due to lack of appropriate information in 2014, the department ended up moving in circles only because of the insufficient information shared.”
Comparing 2014 election to 2019, Vyawahare stated, a lot has changed since then due to the amount of information available. “But that information needs to be analysed only to understand its credibility and then based on the available resources, the department will act,” said Vyawahare.
At present, the department is keeping a close watch on the hawala routes, other large movement of cash and valuables. Vyawahare added that co-operative society banks and co-operative banks have a past record (of illegal transaction) and will be on their radar.