Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8

The Income Tax Department, Chandigarh, today raided the residential and office premises of the Directors of Torque Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd and the owner of the JW Marriott hotel, and their related entities.

The residence of Paramjit Singh Chhatwal and Amar Iqbal Singh Bedi, Directors of Torque Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, and the residence of Harpal Singh, owner of JW Marriott, were raided by tax officials. According to sources, the raids were carried out at 22 premises in Chandigarh, Punjab and Mumbai.

Raids started around 7.30 am and the proceedings were under way at the time of the filling of this report.

Sources in the IT Department said the officers took into custody “important documents”, including property papers and electronic devices, during the raids.

The documents and electronic devices were being examined by tax officials on allegations of unaccounted income generated by these entities, the sources said.

They said during the raids, various documents related to benami properties and foreign investments were found and were being scrutinised.

The searches were conducted under the guidance of Anand Jha, Principal Director, Income Tax (Investigation), and were led by Ankur Alya, Additional Director, Income Tax (Investigation), and Jyotinder Kaur Bajwa, Deputy Director, Income Tax (Investigation).

On allegations of tax evasions, the IT officials have also been keeping an eye on other business establishments in the city.