I-T DEPT GOOFS UP, RAIDS EX OFFICER

An address mix-up led to a goof-up by the income-tax department on Thursday. What's more, the house they initially raided turned out to be that of one of their former seniors. According to sources, a team of officers looking for a certain Jagmohan Agarwal landed up at a house in Chembur at 8.30 am. The house, however, turned out to be that of former additional commissioner of income tax Joginder Singh Agarwal, who did not use his surname when he was working for the government. His brother, Jagmohan Agarwal, owns the house along with him.The team allegedly also insisted on "executing" the warrant of search. This means that the raiding team takes a signature from the occupier of the property that he was formally informed that his property is being searched. Singh was unable to speak to Archana Agarwal, the officer in charge of the raid. "The raiding team then recorded his statement that he or his brother had no connection with the company whose director they were seeking," said a source. Singh had retired from the I-T department last year. The raiding team then found out the correct address—in Lokhandwala, Andheri—of the assessee they were seeking, another Jagmohan Agarwal, and went there about noon. The raid was on till late evening. "The goof-up is inexplicable because normally the returns of an assessee are called for in preparation for the raid. His address would have reflected there," a source said, adding, "Normally, raids are planned very meticulously and a recce of the main premises is done. In some cases, raids have failed to produce any results with informants give wrong information. But a goof-up like the one on Thursday is unprecedented."However, DG of investigation, S S N Murthy claimed, "No such thing has happened." Archana Agarwal, additional director of investigation, who was in charge of the raid, also maintained, "No goof-up has happened. We went through the normal procedure." Both Murthy and Archana Agarwal declined to answer further questions – www.timesof India.com