IT raids on top BSE brokerage houses

MUMBAI: The income tax department has initiated surprise raids on some of the top brokerage houses in the country including Mumbai-based Motilal Oswal Securities and SSKI Securities.
Though the exact reasons of the raids are not yet known, income tax sources confirmed that these brokers'' role in facilitating illegal or ''dabba'' trading is being investigated.Dabba trading refers to trades that happen outside the purview of stock exchanges by setting up pirated versions of stock exchange terminals.
None of the top officials in the brokerage houses or IT department were unavailable for comments.
Sebi sources said that dabba trading is prevalent rampantly across the country and government loses lot of revenue due income tax evasion arising out of the capital gains.