Currency ban: Taxmen keep eye on transactions of tribals’ bank a/cs

GUWAHATI: For India’s predominantly tribal Northeast region it is a repeat of a 1978 nightmare when Rs 1,000 notes were demonetised and tribal lands and blocks were targeted to park black money by the unscrupulous fleeing taxmen and evading taxes.

Presently income tax department is keeping hawk eye on the transaction of tribal accounts in private and private sector banks after the Anato Zhimoni case. Zhimomi, a local businessman in Nagaland, was being used by the industrialists from New Delhi and Haryana to park their black or unaccounted money.

Charted jets flied as many as four times from Hisar to Dimapur in Nagaland since the demonetisation move was announced by the prime minister on television on November 8. Last week money handler Amarjeet Singh was held in Dimapur airport with Rs 3.5 crore.

This blew the lid of the thriving business of using the accounts of tribals to park unaccounted money.

“Undoubtedly this trend of using the tribal accounts taking advantage of income tax exemption started in 1978 when Rs 1,000 demonetised. In the wake of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 early this month it has become more rampant,” former banker with the State Bank of India, Tilak Das, told ET. However, the Rs 1,000 denomination in circulation in 1978 was miniscule compared to 2016, Das said, but now Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 constitute bulk of the currency circulation.

All Assam Tribal Sangha General Secretary Aditya Khaklari said it is unfortunate that tribal people are being targeted for unfair practice. Tribals are used as shields and victimised in making black money white. “There is a need to make tribals’ conscious that for some considerations they should not allow their relaxation of income tax being used by non tribals,” Khaklari said.