The Ahmedabad Income Tax (IT) department carried out searches at more than 34 locations linked to three builder groups – Radhe, Trojan, and Dharti Saket – on Friday morning. Approximately 150 to 175 IT department officers were involved in the operation.One of these groups, which also owns a paper mill, was also raided.

In addition, two ceramic tile units, two financiers, and land brokers were also included in the searches. Unaccounted cash has been found, but its exact total is still being counted. Preliminary investigation estimates suggest that around ₹100 crore might be unaccounted money. Jewellery was  also recovered, but details are not yet available. The financiers and land brokers have reportedly gone underground after the raids.

The promoter of Radhe Group, Mahendra Patel, along with his partners, has been found to have taken large amounts of “on-money” (undisclosed payments). Diaries indicating such “on-money” transactions have also been recovered, and their contents are being verified. 

Patel’s partners include Babu Mordiya, Kaushik Ghardhariya, Nilesh Makdhiya, Tushar Maniyar, and Vimalkumar Kalawadiya. They have reportedly created 10 to 15 companies under their names. Additionally, documents related to land transactions have also been found, which may be linked to real estate brokers, as per sources.

Searches were conducted on Friday morning in Ahmedabad, Mehsana, and Morbi, targeting three active builder groups. A search operation was also carried out at a paper mill in Morbi, which is connected to one of the builder groups. Evidence related to sales without invoices from the paper mill was also discovered.

The Morbi-based group involved in the paper trade is known as the Tirthak Group. It has been revealed that a politician’s son-in-law from Kotda, Rajkot, is a silent partner in this group.

The groups primarily operate in Mehsana, but they also have business units in Ahmedabad, following 25 locations in Ahmedabad were raided. Other locations raided include Gandhinagar, Himmatnagar, Mehsana, and Morbi.

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