The involvement of the Income Tax department in the election process has started yielding positive results with I-T sleuths recovering more than `1 crore in cash and `2 crore in gold and silver during its ongoing drive to trail the use of unaccounted money in the run-up to the elections in Assam.
The crackdown, launched across the state, has led to the recovery of illegal money also as Nagaon police recovered more than ` 9 lakh cash from an individual. However, interrogation of the person carrying the cash revealed that money, which was brought from Dimapur in Nagaland, was paid towards smuggling of rhino horns.
The I-T department, which has intensified its vigil on movement of cash during the election, also received information of cash being carried by air which was forwarded to other directorates outside the region leading to seizure of `50 lakh in cash, the director of Income Tax (investigation), North East Region, T.M. Das, said.
Meanwhile, the department has also started the process of scrutinising the affidavits filed by candidates declaring assets and verifying these with information already available with the department for reporting to the Election Commission along with details of any suppression or information about assets and liabilities or pending dues, he said.
In what may put some political parties in trouble, the I-T department is also preparing a report about those political parties, which are taking donations and enjoying tax exemptions without auditing their accounts or without filing statutory returns.