Raid unearths hidden stocks of 7,000 kg onions

An investigation team of the Income Tax department on Friday unearthed a hidden stock of 7,000 kg of onions from two wholesale dealers at the state government-regulated mandi (bazaar) in Lucknow.

The defaulters tried to intimidate the raiding party headed by I-T deputy commissioner Neel Jain, but timely intervention by the police saved the situation from taking an ugly turn.

"In an obvious bid to hold the I-T team hostage, the traders had locked the main gates of the mandi to prevent entry or exit of anyone, so we hade to use mild force," assistant superintendent of police Amit Pathak told rediff.com on Friday evening.

"We went to the mandi following a tip off about the traders holding on to undeclared stocks of onion and foodgrain; we had to spend about three hours looking into the documents of only two traders, because of the trouble created by them," said Neel Jain.

According to him, the raid was a part of simultaneous I-T operation carried out in different parts of the state, including Kanpur, Varanasi, Barielly, Meerut and Ghaziabad.

Image: A stack of onions at a godown. Photograph: Reuters