Income-Tax (I-T) Department on Tuesday raided the residential and official premises of leading brokerage & financial services firm Anand Rathi Financial Services, which has a high exposure to crisis-hit National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL).

People with direct knowledge of the matter said that the raids by tax sleuths from the investigative wing of the Mumbai I-T department were conducted for alleged tax evasion by Anand Rathi Financial Services.

The raids were conducted just a day after a high-level committee headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram submitted a report to the union finance ministry on suspected wrongdoings connected to the 5,600-crore NSEL payment crisis.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an official from the I-T department said, "We have covered a total of 16 premises connected to the group in Mumbai and amongst other issues, are verifying whether there are any irregularities under the Income-Tax Act in relation to the NSEL fiasco."

As per available data, Anand Rathi Financial Services has an exposure of more than 629 crores to NSEL.

Previously, the I-T department had sought details of investors who had traded with NSEL borrowers from various brokerage firms.

The ongoing investigation is expected to conclude in 2-3 days, following which details will reportedly be shared with capital market regulator Sebi.