Upping the ante against the use of black money and other illegal inducements in the high-stake Assembly election in Punjab, the Income-Tax Department will keep a strict vigil on social media accounts of key candidates besides monitoring transactions involving gold.
So far, cash amounting to about Rs 3.28 crore has been seized by the Income-Tax Department after the model code of conduct came into force in poll-bound Punjab.
The IT Department, which is working in coordination with Election Commission, Police authorities and other agencies during the polls, has also introduced two 24 hours help lines, constituted air intelligence units (AIUs), quick response teams besides deploying informers in the field to track the movement of black money during polls.
The investigation wing of IT will also verify election affidavits of candidates who are contesting from Punjab. “While a total of Rs 10 crore cash (including both old and new currency) has been seized in Punjab after demonetisation, Rs 3.28 crore (including Rs 3 crore from Kharar) was seized by the Investigation Wing after the implementation of code of conduct in the State,” said Director General (investigations) of Income Tax (North West Region) Madhu Mahajan while talking to the mediapersons on Tuesday.
“About 700 complaints related to election expenditure have been received on the helpline number launched by the IT Department. Though all the complaints were not authentic, we are trying to keep a strict vigil on any suspicious activities as we have also deployed informers in the field,” said she. She said that the IT Department is also analyzing and monitoring social media as well as collecting intelligence from banks for this purpose. The Department is also tracking transactions involving gold during the election, she added.
When asked whether the cash seized belonged to any political party or a candidate, she said that an inquiry is going on into this. Madhu said that as the movement of black money begins even before the notification of elections, the Department had been keeping a check on black money for almost two months.
Following our investigation, more than 250 inquires in bank accounts are in progress and six prosecutions have been launched, she informed.
The IT Department has also set up Air Intelligence Units (AIUs) at ludhiana, Mohali and Amritsar Airports. These AIUs will coordinate with the CISF, gather intelligence and will intercept unaccounted cash and other valuables being carried by the air route.
Besides, for smaller Airports like Bathinda and Patiala, coordination has been done with other agencies including the air traffic controller to check such flights and passengers for black money in any form, said the Director General (investigation wing).
On the utilisation of social media during polls, she said that we are keeping a close watch on social media accounts of prominent candidates to check any violation of election expenditure limit in the state. People can send information even on whatsapp on the mobile helpline launched by the IT Department. We will also give rewards to the informants as per the existing guidelines of Central Board of Direct Taxes, said Mahajan.
When asked will the IT Department ensure verification of election affidavits of candidates before polling date which is February 4, she said that a large number of candidates are contesting in the 117 assembly constituencies of Punjab. We are yet to get the affidavits from the EC and it will take about a month to verify the documents of candidates even as the IT Department will not focus on all candidates but the ones under suspicion of filing false information, she added.