The Income Tax Department has unearthed black money to the tune of Rs 80 crore in a search and seizure operation on a business group engaged in the mining, processing and trading of black stones, according to a finance ministry statement issued today.

The search operation covered more than 15 premises of the group located at Bhubaneswar, Jajpur, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar in Odisha as well as Hyderabad, Kolkata, Gurugram and Noida.

“The seized documents contain systematic details of cash sales and bogus sundry creditors exceeding Rs. 80 crore. The analysis of seized documents indicates that these cash sales are undisclosed and are not recorded in the regular books of account of the group,” the official statement said.

The search action has also led to seizure of unaccounted cash, jewellery and bullion exceeding Rs.1 crore, according to the statement.

The group is found to have made huge unaccounted investments in acquisition of properties.

During the course of the search and seizure operation, incriminating documentary and digital evidence, including hand-written books and loose sheets, have been found and seized.

Further investigations are still in progress.