Kozhikode: Tax evasion of Rs 27 crore was detected amid the raids carried out by the intelligence wing of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department at 20 shops in Kozhikode city. As per reports, the fraud was conducted under the guise of input taxes. 

Officials raided as many as 20 textile shops located in various areas including SM Street, Jaffer Khan Colony and Thiruvannur. Of these, 12 shops are located in SM Street. The investigation was carried out on the basis of concrete evidence of illegal transactions.

All 20 shops are under the ownership of three persons namely KS Ashraf Ali, his wife Noor Jahan and Shebir, natives of Kozhikode. They had been running the shops in partnership with others. A raid was also conducted at the house of K Abbas, one such partner, in Manjeri. 

It is learnt that the fraudsters engaged in deceptive practices by forging tax payment documents for goods purchased from other states, which are then brought for sale in Kerala. The fraud caused loss to the state and central GST departments alike. 

The raid was led by TA Ashokan, Joint Commissioner of GST Intelligence, Kerala north zone and Shijoy James, intelligence officer, Kozhikode unit. Officials from Ernakulam, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts were part of the team. 

Meanwhile, GST intelligence officials alleged that the traders had detained a team of officers in the shops during the inspection. “They pulled down the shutters, locking us inside within 30 minutes of the raid. Following this, the Town Police arrived at the spot and with their timely intervention, the traders opened the shutters,” officials said. 

However, the traders denied allegations of detaining the officials in SM Street and said they were not informed in advance about the raid. They added that the traders were not against such raids.