Udaipur : In a continuing crackdown on tax evasion ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, the Income Tax Department raided the residence of a leading edible oil dealer in Udaipur on Thursday morning.
A team of income tax officials from Delhi arrived at the residence of Ashok Kothari, the director of Mahalakshmi Group, in Sarvrit Vihar. The team searched for documents related to the dealer’s business, as well as other properties that he may own.
The income tax officials are investigating whether Kothari has amassed undisclosed assets beyond his known income. Police have been deployed at the residence.
This is the latest in a series of raids by the income tax department in Udaipur. In previous raids, the department has seized crores of rupees worth of undeclared assets from several businessmen and their associates.
The upcoming assembly elections in Udaipur are expected to be a close contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. Some observers believe that the income tax department’s crackdown is a political move aimed at weakening the Congress ahead of the polls.