The Income Tax Department on Friday conducted searches in multiple cities on the premises of the Muthoot group on charges of alleged tax evasion.

Official sources said the searches were conducted on at least three separate Muthoot groups companies in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kolencherry and cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Chennai and Bangalore.

An official, who is not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed that the action was being conducted on three separate Muthoot financial organisations.

They said the department had some "actionable intelligence" on the financial activities of the group and hence the searches were carried out. "Documents and computer peripherals have been seized from various premises," they said.

"Inspections by Income Tax officers have been going on at some of the offices of Muthoot Pappachan Group since morning.

The 129-year-old diversified group always remained committed to be compliant with all the laws of the land. Our management and staff are fully cooperating with the ongoing inspection," a spokesperson for one of the group companies said.

The searches that began early morning are still underway, they said.