In an ongoing income tax (I-T) raid in Ahmedabad, around 15-18 units were targeted in the city on Nov 7, where acquaintances of the former chief minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel, seemed involved.

The operations were carried out by a team from Mumbai for a company named Shukra Pharmaceuticals. Sanskruti Patel, the granddaughter of former chief minister and present governor of Uttar Pradesh, Anandiben Patel, is among the board of directors (according to the company’s website).

A total of nine directors were covered under the raid, including the former corporator of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), executive director of the company, Sujay Mehta, and his wife, Payal Mehta.

In a raid initiated at Prahladnagar, the residence of the company’s chairman and managing director, Dakshey Shah, a lot of objectionable material was found.

Apart from Sanskruti Patel, the other chief financial officers (CFO) include Mehul Patel, Arpit Shah, Bhumi Patel, Sonal Gandhi, and Sarjivan Singh.

A huge amount of money laundering was also traced by the officials in the raid. Multiple hard drives and computer data were seized during the raid. Experts will also inspect mobile phones.

More than 100 officers were assigned to conduct raids at a total of 15 to 18 locations, including the residences of directors, offices, and other units of government contractors.

Turnover attracted raids

It is believed that the growing transactions of the company and its sudden growth resulted in the I-T raids. In the investigation, a turnover of ₹46 cr was recorded in the financial year 2022-23, which was only ₹20 cr in June 2023.

Sujay Mehta, one of the executive directors of Shukra Pharma, also had an alleged role to play in the govt housing projects, the evidence for which were revealed to I-T dept.

The I-T team was assigned from Mumbai to avoid any leak regarding the raids in advance. It is believed that soon after the news of the raids broke, the shares of Shukra Pharmaceutical dipped.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, many believe that the raid on the company of the BJP leader’s close acquaintances is due to the party’s internal conflicts.

Apart from Shukra Pharma, the next in the queue of raids was Ankita Construction, a contractor company in east Ahmedabad that takes government housing project contracts. Arvind Adnani of Ankita Construction was also reportedly taken to the I-T office.

Reports suggest that one more construction group is also on the radar of the department.

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