Chandigarh, May 13 -- / In a major crackdown on tax evasion, Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise, and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday revealed that the state's Taxation Department has busted fraudulent transactions worth Rs 1,549 crore in the current financial year, blocking fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims totaling Rs 108.79 crore. Cheema, addressing a press conference, detailed a series of targeted enforcement actions by the department. Among the biggest busts was the detection of bogus gold transactions worth Rs 900 crore in Ludhiana, resulting in the blocking of Rs 21 crore in ITC. Another Rs 12 crore worth of ITC was blocked in coal-related fake transactions amounting to Rs 226 crore in Mohali, Kharar, and Kotkapura. Lud...