Sleuths of the Income Tax department who have been on an overdrive following the government’s demonetisation move were in for a shock. Amid frequent raids across the country recovering huge amounts of unaccounted income, the I-T sleuths were left stunned to discover deposits totalling Rs 7 crore in old notes in a bank account of an Uber cab driver from Hyderabad.
According to a Times of India report, the I-T wing officials of Hyderabad had zeroed in on the bank account of the Uber cab driver from Hyderabad, where Rs 7 crore demonetised notes had been deposited in the State Bank of Hyderabad account in a span of a few weeks after November 8.
“The Uber cab driver has an account in one of the SBH branches. The account was dormant before demonetisation,” an I-T official was quoted by Times of India as saying.
As per the report, immediately after the deposits were made, the amount was transferred in a phased manner into the account of a bullion merchant through RTGS (real time gross settlement).
“When we confronted the cab driver about the deposits and transfers from his account to the bullion trader, he could not explain the sources of the cash deposits,” said an I-T source.
Investigation wings of the I-T, Enforcement Directorate and the CBI are grilling the driver, who has agreed to pay the taxes under the Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) scheme.
After zeroing in on the suspicious transaction, the I-T officials investigated the CCTV camera footage from the bank and surrounding areas. An investigator said that the camera footage revealed that the cash deposits were made by two of the driver’s accomplices.
The two accomplices of the driver were later apprehended by the taxmen for questioning on Wednesday.
