Many Income Tax raids have captured public attention across the country and the world, but a raid in Kanpur on July 16, 1981, created history. This is the same raid that inspired the Bollywood film “Raid,” which is based on a true incident. This raid, considered India’s largest Income Tax raid, was carried out at the residence of Sardar Inder Singh. Inder Singh was a prominent industrialist and former Rajya Sabha MP who established India’s first steel re-rolling mill and North India’s largest railway wagon factory.
The raid took two days and three nights to complete, and the amount of cash and gold recovered was so vast that it took 18 hours to count it. A team of 45 people, including Reserve Bank employees, was deployed for the counting. More than 90 Income Tax officers and 200 police officers were involved in the operation. During the raid, ₹1.60 crore in cash, 750 tolas of gold, two gold bars, jewelry worth lakhs, and 144 guineas were recovered. A large quantity of gold was also found at the residence of Mohinder Kaur, Inder Singh’s wife, in violation of the Gold Control Act, 1968.
Following the raid, the Income Tax Department issued notices to Inder Singh, his wife, four sons, two sons-in-law, and others. This action dealt a severe blow to Inder Singh’s reputation, though he and his family successfully fought back. The Central Excise Department also initiated action against Mohinder Kaur. The raid was so massive that it had to be televised on film, so that the public could also learn about this historic event.