Overview
- The Taxation Department, which disclosed the sweep Friday, reported unaccounted tobacco goods worth about ₹1.5 crore.
- State Investigation and Preventive Units, specialized tax enforcement teams from Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar, inspected eight sites that included five registered firms and three unregistered premises.
- Teams said they found about 1.32 lakh cigarette packs, 18,472 bidi packs, 302 zarda packs, imported cigarettes, hookah material and 13,000 lighters, with major detections in Ludhiana and Amritsar.
- Officials assessed a tax bill of more than ₹50 lakh on the detected stock and recovered roughly ₹12 lakh, with further recovery and penalty action now underway.
- Authorities said the drive was triggered by intelligence of rising evasion after the tax hike and warned traders to keep proper invoices as similar enforcement will continue.