NO CLAIMANT: None claims goods seized by Excise Department

Ferozepur, November 16, 2012: Dispatch of good by train from Mumbai and  Delhi  without bills had been a regular feature especially during the festival days. 

There is a move of the state government to install CCTV cameras at various places besides repairing boundary walls of railway stations in order to check tax evasion on goods transported by railways.  

In fact, the move had come after Capt YS Matta, Joint Director, Investigations, Excise and Taxation, Ferozepur and Faridkot Divisions, had demanded information from the Railways about the goods being transported with the details of the consigner and the consignee.

In the past, the department had seized number of bundles during its raids valuing lakhs of rupees from the railway station which have been dispatched through the railways without booking.  Even once the ETO, Ferozepur had to chase the vehicle during night for about 70 Kms who managed to escape by dodging excise officials.

The railway authorities are tight lipped over the issue of transporting of goods without booking which is not possible without connivance of its officials with coded words like “SS” and are released by paying the payment to the railways thus putting the railways to a great loss.  This network is active in whole of Punjab and government is being denied of the revenue because of non-billing and deposit of tax with the government.

Recently, the department got the success in confiscating 254 bundles from the Ferozepur Cantt railway station in wee hours on Divali day. However, after bringing to the notice of Divisional Railway Manager Naresh Chand Goyal by Joint Director, Mobile Wing of Sales Tax Department, were opened with the help of police and 254 bundles were recovered of approximate value of Rs.35-40 lakhs.  Even the coach of railway guard was also found to be full with the goods bundles.

None has come forward to claim the goods with the excise and taxation department, which was seized after making a raid at the Ferozepur Cantt railway station on getting a tip-off.  As per the sources, the businessmen are busy in finalising their accounts so that the excise department may not find any fault in the accounts on checking the old accounts and are waiting the incident to be cooled down.   

In the meantime, the excise department is busy in working out the exact cost of the bundles of goods and has kept the goods in its godowns under lock.

Inderjit Singh Sandhu, ETO, opined that VAT Check Posts at Ferozepur on the pattern of Jalandhar,  Ludhiana  and  Amritsar should be opened to check the theft of VAT which would increase in collection of revenue.