On Friday, the Income Tax department in Gujarat raided the homes, offices, and factories of various diamond firms and those linked to realtors in Surat, according to officials.
According to the officials cited above, a team of IT sleuths from Surat, along with those from Vadodara and Ahmedabad, raised as many as 40 locations.
According to officials, the raids were conducted as part of an investigation into a 200 crore land deal in Surat’s Vesu area a few months ago for the construction of a hospital.
The raided individuals were allegedly involved in the purchase of the massive land parcel, according to officials. In Varachha, premises associated with two diamond companies were raided: Bhavana Gems owned by Ashok Sojitra, and Dhanera Group’s Ajbani diamonds owned by Arvind Ajbani.
Ramesh Chogath alias Ramesh Vaghasia, Kadar alias Kadar Kothmir, Naresh Video alias Naresh Patel, and Arvind Bicchu are the realtors in the Vesu and Adajan areas who are allegedly linked to diamond companies and were also raided.
Voting was held in Surat on Thursday. “Due to the Model Code of Conduct, the search operation was put on hold for some time,” an official said.