NEW DELHI: On Tuesday, the Income Tax department said in a statement that the raids conducted in Madhya Pradesh over the last two days have exposed a "widespread" and "well-organised" racket involving unaccounted cash of Rs. 281 crore. It is to be noted that a portion of the cash had been transferred to the headquarters of "a major political party in Delhi", it added and this included Rs. 20 crore moved through hawala (illegal transaction) channels from the residence of a senior functionary on Delhi's Tughlak Road.

Here it is to be noted that according to a statement from the Income Tax department, the seized items included tiger skins, unaccounted cash amounting to Rs. 14.6 crore, 252 bottles of liquor and a few firearms. Meticulous records of collection and cash disbursement in the form of handwritten diaries, computer files and excel sheets corroborate the above findings, it added. To be noted that the Income Tax department claimed that further evidence of the racket emerged during raids in the national capital against those linked to a "close relative of a senior functionary". The "incriminating evidence", it added, included a "cash book recording unaccounted transactions of Rs. 230 crore, siphoning of money through bogus billing of more than Rs. 242 crore, and evidence of over 80 companies in tax havens".

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However, it is worth mention here that Income Tax officials had raided the residences of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's former private secretary Praveen Kakkar in Indore and former advisor Rajendra Kumar Miglani in Delhi in connection with an alleged hawala case on Sunday morning. It is to be noted that the raids came just a week after the Income Tax department targeted people linked to the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition in Karnataka, a move that was termed by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and the Congress as misuse of the government's power to harass political opponents.

To be noted that on Sunday, the Election Commission had instructed investigation and enforcement agencies under the Union Finance Ministry to ensure that their pre-poll raids remain politically neutral. The poll body also mandated that its officials be informed in advance before any such exercise is undertaken.

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