The incident occurred during I-T department raids on realty firms GSquare, Lotus Group and Saravana Stores 'brahmandamai'. | Photo Credit: BCCL

Chennai: Black money hoarders often concoct bizarre ways to hide their undeclared incomes and in one such case, Income Tax officials literally unearthed over Rs 400 crore after digging up a graveyard in Chennai.

The incident occurred during I-T department raids on realty firms GSquare, Lotus Group and Saravana Stores 'brahmandamai' according to a report in The Times of India. It was reported that I-T sleuths had to continue digging for over a week and were shocked to find cash, diamonds, gold and documents worth several crores.

The massive clean-up exercise was carried out simultaneously over 72 locations which were owned by Saravana Stores owner Yogarathinam Pondurai and GSquare and Lotus Group owner Ramajayan (also called Bala). However, the two had tried to cover their tracks and it was a timely tip-off to the authorities that foiled their plans.

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The officials received information about a certain SUV being driven around the city containing a sensitive paper trail apart from huge stashes of cash. It was learnt that the staff at all the locations had been instructed to delete all records from the computers and even the CCTV footage to avoid detection. They were then hauled out of the premises in cabs.

Officials immediately laid a trap and intercepted the suspicious SUV with the help of city police. Upon inspecting the vehicle, I-T sleuths could not find any major cash or gold bounty but could retrieve information about the haul being buried in graveyards and some buildings which were subsequently raided to unearth the unaccounted wealth.