Income Tax (IT) department on Friday is learnt to have carried out a search and assessment operation on officials and residential premises of builder Amit Agrawal and his associates at as many as 10 locations in Ranchi, Jamtara and Kolkata in a suspected case of tax evasion.

However, IT officials remained tightlipped about the action being taken by the department and reasons behind.

In Ranchi IT officials searched the house of Vineet Agrawal; cousin of Amit. He is also said to be the business partner of Amit.

In Jamtara, the IT team inspected a manufacturing unit of Mihijam Vanaspati Pvt Ltd based at Mihijam which is said to be owned by Amit. Rajesh Agrawal and Amar Agrawal are directors of Mihijam Vanaspati Pvt Ltd.

Amit mainly deals in construction but he owns a number of companies like Rajesh Auto Merchandise Pvt Ltd, Tamnana Commonsales Pvt Ltd, Mihijam Vanaspati Pvt Ltd, Rajesh Export and others.

About two months back Amit came to limelight when the BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey alleged him for running hawala racket and said that he invests disproportionate money of some of the politicians in his companies.

Dubey later on submitted a petition to different central agencies like Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and Income Tax. 

Sources in the central agencies said that three years back a similar complaint was lodged against Amit.

Sources said in the recent complaint submitted by Dubey, he claimed that Amit owns as many as eight companies out of which seven are located in Calcutta and one in Jharkhand. Sources maintained that Dubey in his complaint had alleged that Amit uses these companies for investment of money of politicians. Besides Dubey claimed that Amit and his brother have purchased over hundreds of acre land on the outskirts of the capital city with the help of politicians.