More than 100 Income Tax Department sleuths including a large number of  Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officials in separate teams swooped down on more than 65 premises of Hira Group —Central India’s largest corporate house in simultaneous raids carried out in four districts of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday morning.

The searches by the IT teams were continuing at the time of writing of this news in the Hira Group's establishments in Raipur, Bilaspur, Korba and Raigarh districts, sources stated.

It is also probably the first time that IT officials were escorted by the CRPF personnel during the raids considering the secrecy and operations besides possible threat of resistance to the raids, sources informed. The IT teams are carrying out searches for alleged tax evasion to the tune of millions of rupees by the conglomerate, sources informed.

 In Raipur alone, the tax sleuths carried out searches in around 31 premises of Hira Group, including the residential, factory and other commercial premises of its promoters, their family members besides others, sources stated. The raiding team is being assisted by Raipur-based  Investigation Wing of the Income Tax Department and a team from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which had arrived from New Delhi, sources informed.

 IT officials from Jabalpur , Indore and Bhopal too have been involved in the operations. The entire search and seizure operation may take almost a fortnight to be fully completed, an official stated.