Chennai, Jul 16 (PTI) Income Tax sleuths today searched over 20 premises of a firm engaged in highway construction and its associate companies in Tamil Nadu and seized Rs 160 crore in cash and 100 kilogram of gold, IT sources said.

The searches were taken up over suspected tax evasion after inputs about unusual cash movement were received, Tax Investigation department sources told PTI.

Tax raids, held with state police security, were launched following "continuous monitoring of suspicious activities both before and after the period covering demonetisation," the sources added.

Also, the scrutiny of tax returns of the firm revealed disparities during verification process.

In the past,such searches by tax authorities were largely held with the protection of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

The firm is a leading civil work contractor, with suspected links to "politically influential quarters" and had executed projects for state government departments, including the highways and Public Works, sources said.

Searches began this morning in cities including Chennai, Madurai, Aruppukottai and Vellore at 22 premises and were extended to four more places later.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)