Income Tax evasion! Raids underway on ‘Tandooriwala’ restaurant chain in Odisha

The Income Tax Department on Sunday conducted simultaneous raids on the premises located in three Odisha cities and linked to restaurateur Abhay Kumar Nayak following allegations of large-scale income tax evasion.

Also Read: ED raids Hi-Tech Group office in Bhubaneswar over money laundering links and land fraud

According to official sources, simultaneous searches were carried out at six locations across Bhubaneswar, Puri, and Cuttack. The raids include Nayak’s residence in Raghunathpur along with several restaurants associated with his business network.

Among the establishments under the scanner are ‘Mysore Express’ and ‘Tandooriwala’ in Patia, ‘Express Lounge’ in Chandrasekharpur, a restaurant in Puri, and ‘Spice Village’.

Officials suspect that large volumes of transactions have been carried out in cash, allegedly leading to tax evasion amounting to crores of rupees. Investigators are also examining financial records linked to the ‘Pet Puja’ restaurant management app, through which authorities believe income may have been concealed.

The house searches and verification of documents are still underway as the Income Tax team continues its probe into the alleged financial irregularities.

However, no comments were received from the Income Tax Department in this regard.

Worth mentioning, earlier in another incident, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had carried out a raid on February 26 on the office of Vigyan Bharati Charitable Trust (VBCT) located at Sahid Nagar in Bhubaneswar, linked to the Hi-Tech Group of Institutions.

The action was initiated by Kolkata unit of the central agency following allegations of large-scale financial irregularities.

The search operation was focused on suspected money laundering and mismanagement, and allegedly illegal transactions linked to the trust. Investigators had also examined a potential Mumbai connection in the case as part of a broader financial trail.