The Income Tax Department has unearthed black money to the tune of Rs 200 crore in a search and seizure operation carried out on a Pune-based business group engaged in the manufacturing of heavy machinery equipment like excavators and cranes, according to a statement issued by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday.

The searches were carried out last week at 25 locations across seven cities.

The search action has also resulted in seizure of unaccounted cash and jewellery of Rs 1 crore while three bank lockers have been placed under restraint, the statement said.

Several incriminating documents and evidence in the form of electronic data were seized and analysis of these "show that the assessee has been suppressing its profit by adopting various malpractices such as artificial lowering of sales through credit notes, bogus claim of expenses through unsubstantiated trade payables, non-genuine claim of expenses on unused free-of-charge services, non-verifiable commission expenses to related parties, wrongful deferment of revenue and incorrect claims of depreciation" the statement explained.

Related entities of the group were allegedly indulging in dealing of cash receipts from dealers or brokers, unaccounted investment in properties and unaccounted cash loans, the CBDT statement added.