Holy smoke! Drug peddler files I-T returns for 'annual income' of Rs 40 lakh, held

If your perception of India is that of a country with people who love to avoid paying taxes, think again. It's also home to people like 34-year-old 'labourer-turned drug peddler' Rachappa Ranga from Karnataka whose entire business was built on drug money but still complied with India's tax laws by filing the I-T returns on his 'annual income' of Rs 40 lakh.

The irony of the situation is that even though his entire business was build on smuggling drugs, and hence destroying lives of hundreds of people, he thought it would be somewhat 'legal and patriotic' to file the I-T returns. Or maybe he thought he would be honoured, or spared from the police action for declaring his 'black money'.

Another proof of his income can be measured from the fact that Rachappa paid Rs 40,000 as monthly rent for living in a villa. The police said he roamed in a swanky car and also owned a property in his native village.

Under the guise of being a construction labourer, this so called "tax payer", who has has studied till Class 10, ran a big drug-peddling racket that recruited poor youths, and earned crores of rupees, reported Times of India. Rachappa came under the police radar after he filed his I-T returns, and cops started keeping a tab on his activates. Rachapa, along with his associate Srinivas of Chandapura, was arrested with 26kg ganja and Rs 5 lakh cash. The police have also seized his mobile phone and car.

According to the police, he came from his village to earn living as a construction labourer but soon got lured towards drugs before fully indulging in drug peddling in 2013. The police said they got a tip-off that Rachappa and his gang members were meeting at a hotel with a consignment of contraband. The cops raided the hotel and arrested both the accused but the drug supplier, Sashu, fled the spot. Meanwhile, the I-T department officials are now scrutinising Rachappa's I-T papers.

The police claim he was a top quality ganja supplier, who sold at least 30kg ganja a day for a price of Rs 35,000 per kg.