NEW DELHI: Traders in Old Delhi area of Chandni Chowk were under income tax surveillance for a long time for their unaccounted business dealings in cash generating huge black money before a private vault was raided in the area a week ago where officials have so far seized Rs 35 crore, mostly in currency notes of Rs 2000.On Friday, income tax officials seized Rs 5 crore after confronting some locker owners who owned up to some of the cash but failed to substantiate the source of these deposits. The I-T officials have so far opened about 50 lockers while hundred more are to be searched.All the lockers at the private vault were rented to traders from the Chandni Chowk area who stashed their unaccounted cash avoiding mandatory declarations under Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines that are normally followed by banks.The I-T officials have been gathering information about the owners of these lockers and have issued summons to those identified. Many of these lockers are benami where actual beneficiaries are yet to be identified.According to I-T intelligence, there are several such private vaults in operation all across the national capital where unaccounted cash are kept by businessmen and builders. These locker services lack CCTV cameras and thus no records are available of who actually operates these lockers.In a similar search in January this year, the I-T investigation unit had seized Rs 85 crore in unaccounted cash and jewellery from a private vault in South Extension, Delhi. The cash seizure alone was to the tune of Rs 41 crore. The probe later revealed that these lockers were operated by liquor mafias, builders and businessmen.These private vaults have become popular with those generating black money as they offer secrecy to beneficiaries and lack due diligence followed at commercial banks. At present there is no regulator for operating these vaults, no reporting mechanism or any accountability on maintaining a locker with a private vault.The central board of direct taxes, the apex administrative authority of the income tax, had earlier approached the finance ministry seeking a regulatory framework for these private vaults. “There appears little requirement for them to adhere to KYC norms prescribed by RBI. Further, there is no reporting of such lockers to any authority…there are no CCTV cameras in such lockers which is mandatory for lockers provided at the banks,” a senior I-T officer said.The probe into the South Extension private vault had revealed that more than 100 lockers were rented out at an annual fee exceeding over Rs 1.5 lakh per locker. This is exorbitant compared to a locker available in banks for less than Rs 1,000 per annum.