I-T notices to 8 city petrol bunks

I-T officials collecting CCTV footage from 12 jewellery showrooms to check for violations

Income-Tax department officials have served notices on at least eight petrol pump dealers in the city over huge cash deposits of demonetised notes after November 8.

It was alleged that petrol dealers deposited cash into fuel cards and collected money in advance and recovered old dues. Consortium of Petroleum Dealers joint secretary Rajiv Amaram said that he along with a few other petrol dealers in Hyderabad had received notices seeking explanation of huge sales.

He said, “They have pointed out that usually my sales would be around `20 lakh and after demonetisation it was `40 lakh. I explained that my bunk is an ‘extra power’ centre and can deposit money in fuel cards.”

I-T officials are continuing their surveillance of jewellers who sold gold after November 8 by accepting the demonetised currency for a commission.

After cracking down on a jewellery shop at Banjara Hills on December 3, which sold jewellery worth `100 crore after 8 pm on November 8, the I-T investigation wing has gathered details of the deposits made by jewellers in TS and AP after November 8.

“We have identified 12 jewellers out of 50 verified in the two states who deposited more than `50 crore each in demonetised `500 and `1,000 denominations,” said an officer of the IT department.

He said that special teams would begin gathering CCTV footage from the 12 jewellery showrooms.

Another officer said that besides monitoring transactions, teams were concentrating on identifying customers seen in the CCTV footage.