The Income Tax department Wednesday conducted searches on the premises of Ahmedabad-based Chiripal Group of Industries for possible tax evasion and seized Rs 10 crore unaccounted cash from one of the searched locations, officials said. The investigation wing of Income Tax department from Surat spearheaded the searches that were carried out at 45 locations in Gujarat including the premises of Chiripal House at Shivranjani in Ahmedabad which is also houses the office of Vraj Integrated Textile Park, construction company of the Group, income tax officials told The Indian Express. Offices of the company in Bopal were also searched. Over 150 I-T officials from Surat, Vadodara and Ahmedabad participated in the searches that were spread over multiple locations across Gujarat, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Apart from Rs 10 crore that was recovered from Ahmedabad, the I-T officials also seized gold ornaments and incriminating documents during the searches. Apart from offices and business outlets, IT officials searched the residences of the top management of the Chiripal Group. The Chiripal group has a manufacturing facility at Bareja in Ahmedabad and packaging units in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. The group had begun their business with 12 power looms in Ahmedabad in 1972. Today its one of the largest denim manufacturers. Their textile and petrochemicals verticals comprises of firms like Nandan Denim (incorporated in 1994), Vishal Fabrics, Chiripal Industries, CIL Nova Petrochemicals, Nandan Terry, Chiripal Poly Films Limited. The company is also into real-estate and infrastructure development and also owns companies like Shanti Developers, Vraj Integrated Textile Park and Dholi Integrated Spinning Park. The searches that began early Wednesday morning is currently under progress, officials added.
