Diligent tax payers waiting for refunds at the end of the financial year would be aghast to know this: money meant for refunds is suspected to have been diverted to some fake accounts and the authorities have initiated a police probe into the racket.

As many as 10 police complaints have been filed by tax authorities with the Delhi Police against some data entry operators who are suspected to have diverted the money meant for refunds last year, a government official said on condition of anonymity.

The FIRs, filed with the Indraprastha Estate Police Station, near the headquarters of the Income Tax Department, Delhi, named the operators, who were hired by the department for processing of returns in the capital refunds.

In the last financial year, refunds of Rs 41,419 crore were issued, while in the previous year the refunds totaled to Rs 40,701 crore.

In Delhi alone, Rs 9,459 crore of refunds were in 2008-09 given against Rs 7,673 crore in 2007-08.

When contacted, a spokesperson for Central Board of Direct Taxes said that these instances would not affect the refunds and asserted that the computer systems of the Income Tax department were not hacked by outsiders.