The regional unit of the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), having jurisdiction over Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, has booked 28 cases of violation of service tax worth Rs 106 crore and recovered Rs 9.25 crore during 2012-13, registering a growth over the previous financial years.

In 2011-12, nine cases of violation of service tax worth Rs 19 crore were booked and Rs 80 lakh was recovered, while in the previous year (2010-11) equal number cases of violation of service tax worth Rs 30 crore were registered and Rs 8 lakh was seized.

According to officials, the DGCEI regional unit has witnessed the growth in the booking and realization of service tax in yearly -on-year basis comparatively, thanks to aggressive search and seizure operations by a team led by additional director Debashish Sahu. Of the Rs 106 crore of tax violation in the last fiscal year, Jharkhand alone constituted about Rs 85 crore. "The total share of Bihar and Odisha is about over Rs 20 crore," said a DGCEI official.

Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Bokaro are the top three towns in Jharkhand that have reported maximum default cases. "Apart from the small manufacturing units, real estate and timber merchants top the defaulters' list," said the officer posted at the Jamshedpur office of the regional unit.

On March 6, the DGCEI sleuths recovered service tax of Rs 3 crore from city-based real estate firm, Techno Culture Building Center Pvt Ltd, following raids osn eight places in Bihar and Jharkhand.