Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
Sales Tax Department has issued notices to 11 betelnut traders to ensure entry of purchase of betelnut in the purchase register. “After ensuring the entry of purchase, the trader would have to pay 5.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) after sell,” confirmed Gajendra Raut, Deputy Commissioner, Sales Tax (Investigation Wing).
The betelnut traders have imported 345 tonnes of betelnut from Dimapur, Assam. A goods train of 25 wagons arrived at Itwari railway station on Wednesday with betelnuts worth Rs 8.75 crores.
After receiving information of smuggling and sub-standard betelnuts, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) had called Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to check the quality and Sales Tax department to inspect purchase papers of the goods.
A RPF officer informed that FDA did not find anything wrong in the consignment and booking manager cleared the betelnuts. However, the sales tax department is ensuring the entry in the purchase register.
It may be mentioned that a joint team of Maharashtra Sales Tax department and Uttar Pradesh Sales Tax department had unearthed tax evasion worth crores of rupees in year 2013. The raids were conducted at Vikrant Transport, Nagpur, Gupta Transport, Nagpur, Balaji Traders, Nagpur and Tirupati trading company, Nagpur. The joint team had found manipulated bills from Vikrant traders and Tirupati trading co. However, address of Balaji traders turned out to be fake as no such establishment was present at the mentioned address.
According to sources, centrally located Nagpur is hub for betelnut business. Around 100-200 trucks arrive in Nagpur everyday from Karnataka and Kerala. Maximum trucks are parked in Maskasath and Wadi area where most of betel nuts are stored in godowns. Betel nuts of every quality ranging from best to worst is mixed here and then, is transported to North India including states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh where Gutkha manufacturing companies are located. As VAT is not applicable on Chilli and turmeric business hence, the businessmen often pass on betelnut in the name of chilli and turmeric. They also claim false credits, hide turnover, and even use hawala transfers in the business, the officials claimed.
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