Mumbai's iconic Leopold Cafe that was among the terror targets during
the 2008 Mumbai attacks, saw income tax sleuths swooping down upon it in
the busy hours of Monday.
The cafe, which is a popular tourist stop-by at Colaba Causeway in South Mumbai, came under the IT scanner for alleged discrepancies in the income tax of the previous financial year.
According to IT sources, the owners of Leopold cafe have made tax evasions, which the department is now
verifying. In the raid that lasted almost twelve hours, the sleuths scrutinised tax documents and receipts at the cafe.
Leopold, which found itself among the top tourist destinations for international travellers after it was mentioned in Gregory Roberts' famous magnum opus, Shantaram, looked like a virtual scene of crime all through Monday night as a team of IT officials, dressed in civil clothes, lurked around the premises while the bosses studied the financial records of the cafe.
The IT sleuths had landed at the cafe at around 6pm on Monday night, a time when business is at its peak for the cafe. Sources in the IT department say, "We are looking into certain transactions that appear dubious from the last financial year. We have taken some documents into our custody in order to be able to ascertain the gravity of the irregularities. There is a certain tax evasion that has been made by the cafe. We also need to verify other irregularities that have come to the fore during the probe."
Tax sleuths will now go through several years of the tax record of the cafe. If the concluding report is not in favour of the cafe, it could face serious trouble from the IT department.
The cafe, which is a popular tourist stop-by at Colaba Causeway in South Mumbai, came under the IT scanner for alleged discrepancies in the income tax of the previous financial year.
According to IT sources, the owners of Leopold cafe have made tax evasions, which the department is now
verifying. In the raid that lasted almost twelve hours, the sleuths scrutinised tax documents and receipts at the cafe.
Leopold, which found itself among the top tourist destinations for international travellers after it was mentioned in Gregory Roberts' famous magnum opus, Shantaram, looked like a virtual scene of crime all through Monday night as a team of IT officials, dressed in civil clothes, lurked around the premises while the bosses studied the financial records of the cafe.
The IT sleuths had landed at the cafe at around 6pm on Monday night, a time when business is at its peak for the cafe. Sources in the IT department say, "We are looking into certain transactions that appear dubious from the last financial year. We have taken some documents into our custody in order to be able to ascertain the gravity of the irregularities. There is a certain tax evasion that has been made by the cafe. We also need to verify other irregularities that have come to the fore during the probe."
Tax sleuths will now go through several years of the tax record of the cafe. If the concluding report is not in favour of the cafe, it could face serious trouble from the IT department.
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