HYDERABAD/ WARANGAL: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax (I-T) department on Wednesday raided properties linked to BC welfare minister Gangula Kamalakar, including his Karimnagar residence, in connection with alleged tax evasion of Rs 124.94 crore.
It has been alleged that Kamalakar and his family members, who run granite business, transported granite from Karimnagar to other countries by sea to evade taxes.
The joint teams raided the premises of SVG Granite at Janahita Apartments in Attapur to verify business transactions, and also searched the offices of Swetha Granites and Aravind Granites in Hyderabad and Karimnagar.
The teams also raided the offices of Mahavir Granites and SVR Granite in Karimnagar. Kamalakar’s residence was also searched, despite the minister and his family members being away on a foreign trip.
Meanwhile, Kamalakar, who returned from Dubai following the raids, said at the Rajiv Gandhi Internal Airport (RGIA) that he would cooperate with the investigation agencies.
“I asked the ED officials to break open the doors of my residence in the presence of my personal assistant (PA) while watching it on a video call. I returned to the city from Dubai to extend my assistance to the investigation agencies by cancelling the family trip,” he said.
The searches were conducted based on a complaint by Bethi Mahender Reddy in 2021. It was alleged that eight granite firms — Swetha Agencies, Swetha Granites, AS Shipping Pvt Ltd, JM Baxi company, Maithili Aditya, KVR agencies, Aravind granites, and Sandhya agencies — were evading taxes.
The complainant had said: “Swetha agencies evaded Rs 4.19 crore, Swetha agencies, Rs 57 crore, AS Shipping Pvt Ltd, Rs 6 crore, JM Baxi company, Rs 19 crore, Maithili Aditya, Rs 33 crore, KVR agencies, Rs 92 lakh, Aravind Granites, Rs 94 lakh and Sandhya agencies, Rs 14 crore by transporting granite material.”
Based on the complaint, ED officials wrote to the MD of Elite Shipping Agencies India Private Limited, seeking details in connection with FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) about exporters of granite blocks from Karimnagar to foreign countries through Kakinada and Krishnapatnam ports.
After obtaining the reports, the ED found irregularities and initiated raids on the suspected companies in Hyderabad and Karimnagar.
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