The Income Tax Department has raided multiple premises of Hero Motocorp, including the office and residence of chairman and managing director Pawan Munjal.

“The Income Tax department conducted searches at multiple premises of Hero Motocorp. The office and residence of promoter Pawan Munjal and premises linked to the top officials of the company are covered in this search. More details awaited: Sources,” tweeted ANI.

Income Tax department conducting searches at multiple premises of Hero Motocorp. The office and residence of promoter Pawan Munjal and premises linked to the top officials of the company are covered in this search. More details awaited: Sources

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2022

These raids are part of a tax evasion investigation, said Income Tax department officials.

However, Hero MotoCorp later issued a statement stating the searches at Munjal’s premises were part of a routine enquiry ahead of the end of the fiscal year.

This is not an isolated case. Many corporate offices have been under the Enforcement Directorate’s(ED) radar.

The premises of Indiabulls Finance Center in Delhi and Mumbai were raided by ED, in February this year. The search was carried out in connection with money laundering allegations made against the promoter Sameer Gehlot in April 2021, said a report.

Hiranandani Group, one of the largest real estate developers in the country, also faced the music in March. The Income Tax department raided around 25 premises of the group. The search spanned across three cities – Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. According to sources, the raids were carried out over suspected tax evasion by the group.

Startups too are no exception to this. Recently, the IT department carried out searches at premises of the Zetwerk Manufacturing unit, on suspected tax evasion. Other than the official premises, residence of the Unicorn’s founders and directors were also searched, said a report.

Similarly, B2B marketplace for construction materials, Infra.Market was also raided by tax authorities at its multiple office locations on suspected irregularities of taxes. Undisclosed income worth INR 224 crore was unearthed and the searches were launched at the firm’s 23 premises in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, said a report.