The Income Tax Department has detected unaccounted cash transactions of Rs 800 crore after it recently raided three real estate groups in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the CBDT said on Monday, January 10. The unidentified groups are engaged in the business of land development and construction, and the Income Tax Department raided over two dozen premises linked to them on January 5 in Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa, Nandyal, Bellary and some other locations, it said.

Incriminating documents like handwritten books, agreements and digital data have been seized from a specialised software application as well as from other electronic gadgets, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.

One group has been using a software which has been "systematically modified" to eliminate the unaccounted cash element of the consideration received and to record in the regular books of account the sale consideration that matches with registered sale price, the policy-making body for the Tax Department said.

These groups have been found to be "accepting cash" over and above the registered value of the properties and such unaccounted cash is used for cash payments towards the purchase of lands and incurring other expenditure, it claimed.

"So far, the search action has led to the seizure of unaccounted cash of Rs 1.64 crore … and has resulted in the detection of unaccounted cash transactions to the tune of Rs 800 crore," the statement said.