New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS): The Income Tax Department carried out search and seizure operation on a group based in Andhra Pradesh's Eluru, and whose entities are engaged in film financing, aquaculture, real estate, film distribution and money-lending, at 21 different locations across the state and neighbouring Telangana.

During the course of the search operation, hand-written books, agreements and loose sheets depicting undisclosed cash transactions were seized, the Income Tax Department said in a statement.

The group was found to be lending huge amounts in cash and collecting interest for the same in cash, which are undisclosed. It was also observed that certain entries totaling to Rs 13 crore were deleted from cloud data, but have been recovered, the statement added.

A major suppression of income from distribution of films and running theatres has also been observed. The group is also accepting cash over and above the registration value in sale of plots, it said.

Total assets worth Rs 17.68 crore which includes Rs 14.26 crore cash, and gold jewellery, bullion and silver valued at Rs 3.42 crore have been seized so far.

The highlight of the search action is the seizure of such huge amount of cash and gold in mofussil stations like Eluru and Rajamahendravaram. In total, the search has resulted in detecting incriminating evidence relating to undisclosed financial transactions of Rs 161 crore from FY 2016-17 to FY 2019-20, taxable in the hands of both the transacted parties.

Further investigations are in progress.