Tirupati, Oct 22 (IANS): The Income Tax department has seized about 300 kg of unaccounted gold from four jewelry shops in Proddatur town in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa district.

The I-T Department officials from Vijayawada and Tirupati seized the gold during the searches for the last four days.

Proddatur is famous for gold business and the town is called 'second Bombay' and 'town of gold'.

The officials found that few jewelers in the town were sourcing gold from various places without invoices.

The searches revealed that the gold was not accounted for in the books.

The officials later transported the seized gold in suit-cases and cartons to Tirupati amid high security.

Investigations revealed that the jewelers were sourcing gold from Gujarat, Mumbai and Kolkata without relevant documents.

The searches were conducted on the tip-off that some top jewelers in the town were indulging in alleged black business. Proddatur has more than 1,000 jewelry shops.

The I-T searches at some leading shops sent panic in the market with several jewelers downing shutters. This affected the sale of jewelry during the ongoing festival season.