India’s biggest-ever Income Tax raid took place at the Kanpur residence of industrialist and former Rajya Sabha MP Inder Singh, a pioneering businessman who established the country’s first steel re-rolling mill and North India’s largest railway wagon factory. The high-profile operation, carried out in 1981, later inspired the Bollywood film Raid.
The raid was extensive and involved over 90 Income Tax officers and 200 policemen. It spanned nearly a month and resulted in the recovery of significant assets. A team of 45 individuals, including employees from the Reserve Bank of India, spent 18 hours counting the seized cash.
750 Tola Gold Seized
The raid recovered Rs 1.60 crore in cash, along with 750 tola of gold. This included two gold bricks, jewelry worth around Rs 8
lakh, and 144 guineas valued at Rs 1.85 lakh. From the residence of Sardar Inder Singh’s wife, Mohinder Kaur, authorities seized two 500-tola gold bricks and 144 gold coins, totaling 6,977 grams, in violation of the Gold (Control) Act, 1968.
Legal Notices, Gold Act Action Follow
After the raid, the Income Tax Department issued notices to Sardar Inder Singh, his wife Mohinder Kaur, their four sons, two sons-in-law, and other family members. The operation dealt a major blow to Sardar Inder Singh’s reputation, though he and his family continued to contest the case legally.
Meanwhile, the Central Excise Department took action against Mohinder Kaur for violating the Gold (Control) Act, 1968. The raid’s scale and impact were so significant that it later inspired a Bollywood film.
Who Was Inder Singh?
In 1928, Inder Singh set up Singh Engineering Works in Kanpur, marking India’s first steel re-rolling mill. He later established North India’s largest railway wagon factory, the Singh Wagon Factory, and went on to become the biggest supplier of tie bars to the Indian Railways.
