By DC Correspondent

Copyright deccanchronicle

Hyderabad:The income-tax department on Wednesday carried out searches on CAP Gold Private Limited, popularly known as Chanda Anjaiah Parameshwar (CAP), one of India’s leading gold and silver bullion merchants, and on its directors and associated real estate firms, over suspected tax evasion in the last financial year’s income tax returns (ITRs).Starting around 6 am, nearly 15 teams of officials armed with previous ITRs and balance sheets raided the Caps Gold headquarters in Secunderabad and the residences of its board of directors across Hyderabad, Warangal and other locations.Officials said several directors of CAP Gold had also invested in real estate ventures. Simultaneous searches were conducted at the offices of Vasavi Group, a prominent real estate firm in Hyderabad, including its office in Banjara Hills.According to sources, the residences of CAP Gold chairman Chanda Narsimha Rao, managing director Chanda Venkatesh and directors Sreenivas Rao Chanda, Abhishek Chanda, Sowmya Chanda and others were searched. CAP Gold, a bullion merchant, supplies gold in bulk to jewellery shops and merchants.Investigators suspect that cash transactions may have been routed from CAP Gold to Vasavi Group, leading to discrepancies in ITR filings. Several CAP directors, including Sreenivasa Rao Chanda, Abhishek Chanda and Sowmya Chanda, are also investors and directors in Vasavi Group companies.During the searches, the IT officials obtained details of ITRs filed by CAP gold, Vasavi Group, the Caps purchase of gold stocks and supply to its customers, forms of transactions, and balance sheets. The IT officials also collected details of Vasavi Group’s investments into purchasing lands, construction by developing the apartments, purchase of land by customers, and payment modes from customers based on the current account statements. Abhishek Chanda is the director for 15 companies, including Vasavi Group of companies