Income Tax surveys at offices of IPL franchises

Income Tax authorities conducted surveys at offices of Indian Premier League franchises Pune Warriors in Pune and Mumbai and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the southern city as part of their probe into alleged tax evasion.

I-T sources said officials were sent to collect documents and details of transactions, share holding patterns and financial investments of the franchises.

The survey was also conducted at Amby Valley in Lonavala, near Mumbai, in connection with the Pune Warriors case, they said.

The Income Tax department is looking for the funding patterns for purchase of players by these franchises.

According to preliminary reports, the I-T authorities only visited the business premises of the franchises.

The surveys are being conducted in the wake of Pune Warriors' player Mohnish Mishra's statement, that he got much more than his prescribed auction amount under the table as black money, during a 'sting' operation conducted by a news channel, which claimed to have exposed corruption in the IPL.

However, Mishra later retracted his statement, saying he had done that casually "to develop his value".

The Pune Warriors team suspended Mishra hours after the BCCI handed him the same punishment for his alleged involvement in spot-fixing, pending a board inquiry.

Income Tax sources said similar survey operations are also being conducted at the offices of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the IPL franchise in Bangalore.