BHOPAL:

initiated a ‘dramatic’ operation against two oil companies in

of

.

To carry out searches on these companies located in the Chambal bad land, I-T had to adopt a ploy, faking a wedding back-up.

Searches were conducted on

owned by

"Sukka" and Laxmi Oil Mill of Narayan Hari Gupta. More than 30 locations including the residential and company premises of both companies were searched.

Around 200 officials disguised themselves as a "wedding party" to avoid attention during the massive raids on the two companies which began simultaneously at around 20 locations at 5.30 am onwards and later on, went up to 24 locations including some places in Rajasthan.

I-T sleuths had hired more than 150 cars from a city operator and had stickers — "Ankur weds Swati" and "Chaturvedi pariwar apka swagat karta hain"— on most of them to carry officials to various destinations early on Thursday.

The taxis had stickers affixed in the front as well as on the rear to ensure the operation remained clandestine.

"Searches were of a massive scale and it was not possible to source vehicles for all officials. Any leak would have spoiled the operation," said an official.

Thursday being an auspicious day for marriages, officials stuck stickers to camouflage their arrival at various destinations, said sources.

Taxi drivers were not allowed to use their cell phones until they dropped the officials at their respective destinations.

"Morena being a small district, the team had to prevent leak of information. Taxi operations in the area are well connected. The taxi owners were informed that drivers will not be allowed to use their phones," said the official.

Morena police provided security to I-T department officials. Officials have reportedly confiscated large quantity of incriminating documents during the search which is likely to continue till Friday.