PATNA: Buoyed by some remarkable achievements of its Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) at Jayaprakash Narayan International (JPNI) Airport here in the past few months, the I-T (investigation) department has sent a proposal to the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) for setting up a permanent AIU unit at the Patna airport.
"The success of AIU unit here has encouraged us to ask to convert the temporary unit into a permanent one," an I-T official said, adding that the permanent unit will help officials to a great extent in checking movement of illegal valuables and unaccounted cash.
The AIU unit gains further significance at JPNI airport as it may easily be used by white-collar criminals and smuggling agents to carry cash and other valuables to Nepal through the porous Indo-Nepal border.
The I-T department had set up a temporary AIU unit at the city airport after the Election Commission of India asked it to do so during the recently concluded Bihar assembly elections. The temporary office of the AIU unit was set up in October-November last year.
Soon after setting up of the AIU, I-T sleuths had netted a Congress MP, R C Khuntia, carrying cash to the tune of Rs 12.5 lakh on October 12, 2010. Khuntia, who is also the secretary of the All India Congress Committee, was detained while boarding an Air India flight for Delhi. He had failed to produce documents pertaining to the cash.
AIU officials again seized Rs 33 lakh from a city-based trader, Manish Gandhi, at the Patna airport on November 6. Gandhi had also failed to disclose the source of the money he was taking to Mumbai. The I-T sleuths had reportedly laid a trap following a tip-off which led to the seizure of the money from Gandhi.
The I-T sleuths also seized about 7.5 kg of gold from a Muzaffarpur-based jeweller, Saket Kumar, on Tuesday. Kumar has been asked by I-T officials to furnish details of his I-T returns filed in the past six years.
"Currently, there is no AIU unit here," an official said and added that the AIU unit, which was set up during the Bihar assembly election, has been dismantled as of now.
According to investigation system, I-T sleuths can question anyone carrying cash or other valuables. "Those carrying cash and valuables must be able to verify the source of the same. At the same time, there is no upper limit with regard to carrying cash and valuables which are exempted from income-tax investigation," an I-T source said.
Alok K N Mishra is a Times of India journalist. He can be contacted at 9234629956.
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