Among those who were raided today were Ritu Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani, Manish Malhotra, Krishna Mehta, Anna Singh, Hemant Trivedi, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla and jewellery designer Poonam Soni. Almost the whole of the trade was brought under the nationwide swoop, virtually on the eve of Diwali, and in a particularly lean year.

The premises include Ritu Kumar's two boutiques in Hotel Oberoi, one in Hotel Juhu Centaur and Tina Tahiliani's Ensemble near Lion Gate, South Mumbai.

Income Tax officials refused to divulge names, but confirmed that huge number of documents were under scrutiny, and largescale concealment of income was revealed through unaccounted sales and unexplained expenditure. The majority of investments revealed from the papers is in the form of property.

Onefarmhouse belonging to a Delhi-based designer also raided today is worth at least Rs 8 crore, it was learnt. Thirteen bank lockers have been sealed, mostly in Mumbai. No statements had been recorded as of Wednesday. About 200 officers participated in the operation. More details would be available only tomorrow when the papers were completely examined, sources said.

Of the 35 premises, 24 are in Mumbai, seven in Delhi, four in Calcutta, two in Chennai and one each in Amritsar and Jaipur. Most of the designers were at home when the raids began.