Two days after it seized four trucks belonging to angadias in a raid at Mumbai Central railway station,the Income Tax Department began to return the goods Wednesday. Counting of the cash and jewellery is underway at its office at Scindia House in Ballard Estate. Diamond traders in the city said the incident has cast a “shadow” over their business. I-T officials maintained that verification was in progress. Some of the goods were returned to owners,they said.
In a joint operation Monday,the National Investigation Agency and the I-T department seized four trucks at Mumbai Central suspecting they contained unaccounted for cash. Scores of angadias have camped outside Scindia House since,waiting for their consignments to be returned. The authorities had counted Rs 10 crore among other seized packets,most of which contained rough and uncut diamonds to be ferried to Gujarat.
Diamond merchants say the movement to and from Mumbai Central occurs daily. “Angadias have bee operating for the past 70 years and provided security by the police since 1987. There have been a few incidents of robbery but nothing major. The angadias move out one hour before the Gujarat Mail leaves and coordinate with the police,who provide two cars. The incident hasn’t affected daily movement and trade. Most of the consignments were payments sent by traders to workers in small Gujarat towns,” said Kirit Bhansali of Bharat Diamond Bourse.
Mumbai Police provides security cover during the daily movement of the angadias. “We do it as a matter of crime control. We know they leave between 8 pm and 8.15 pm and a police van reaches opera house at that time. If a van does not come from V P Road police station,the angadias call the main control room and a van is sent,” said Nisar Tamboli,Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II).
Bombay Diamond Merchants Association,based in Panchratna Building,felt that the trade had come under a cloud. “The figures being given out in the media are false. The only loss that has occurred is in terms of delay,but movement has not been affected,” said a member of the association.
The Gem and Jewellery Council of the Bourse said they had requested the I-T department to go for random checking of the cartons.
“We had two meetings with the department and they have assured us they will release the cartons after verification. It is time consuming to examine hundreds of cartons. The department is entitled to conduct raids and there is no question of anyone being harassed,” said Suresh Shah of the Gem and Jewellery Council.
The angadias maintain that the incident had been blown out of proportion and denied that they were being harassed. “The income tax department is only doing its duty. There are around 40 angadias whose cartons have been seized. So far,we have not heard of any consignment that is unaccounted for,” said a member of an angadia association.
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