Ranchi: Chief secretary Rajbala Verma on Thursday directed deputy commissioners and police chiefs to launch a crackdown on shell companies in their respective districts within 15 days. The written order, prodded by chief minister Raghubar Das, asked all the 24 districts to identify and seize properties and freeze accounts of shell firms, which are usually non-trading companies used as vehicles of various financial manoeuvres and manipulation, including tax evasion. They must send letters to local banks where shell company accounts exist. "While we are looking for serious investors to boost development, there will be no place for shell firms," he said. There are 634 shell companies in Jharkhand, including 214 in Ranchi, 151 in Jamshedpur and 55 in Dhanbad.

Source: The Telegraph November 09, 2017 21:00 UTC