New Delhi, Aug 12 The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged the Centre to investigate the "Chinese Hawala" racket busted by the Income Tax Department.
In letters sent to Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, CAIT demanded an in-depth investigation into the "racket" and "whether such kind of rackets" are also being operated by Chinese nationals in India.
"CAIT has also demanded stern action against banks like Bandhan Bank and ICICI Bank and others for their connivance with Chinese nationals, and nexus of this 'Hawala' racket with e-commerce companies," CAIT said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the I-T Department busted a money laundering racket worth more than Rs 1,000 crore.
The confederation also demanded a separate intensive probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
"It's a matter of investigation as to how Chinese national Luo Sang (which is his real identity in China), who was operating under the name of Charlie Peng, was able to secure Indian passport from Manipur and how he was able to further secure Aadhaar and PAN through which he opened a series of bank accounts," the statement said.
"Opening and smooth operations of about 40 Shell bank accounts compelled us to derive at the fact that there is a close nexus between Chinese nationals and bank officials, and stern action should be taken against the erring bank officials," it said.
As per the CAIT statement, some of the leading e-commerce companies operating their online business activities in India "are also hand-in-glove with Chinese individuals and companies".
"CAIT has urged for an investigation into the conduct of e-commerce companies in this regard. This huge revelation by the I-T Department is ample testimony of indulging in blatant violations of Indian laws by the e-com portals," it said.
( With inputs from IANS )