Mumbai: The investigation wing of the income-tax (I-T) department in Mumbai on Friday carried out searches in two cities of the offices of Juniper Networks India Pvt. Ltd, a unit of Juniper Networks Inc.
The Sunnyvale, California-based information technology firm is the world’s second largest maker of equipment for directing Internet traffic.
An I-T official, who did not want to be identified, confirmed the development and said: “The department is searching the Bangalore and Mumbai offices of the company.” He also said that the investigation wing of the department has detected substantial amounts of money being siphoned off. The I-T official declined to divulge details.
Sridhar Sarathy, vice-president of Juniper Networks India, said: “We don’t comment on pending investigation.”
Juniper Networks Inc. makes switches and routers—the hardware that helps manage computer and telecom networks—and competes with firms such as Cisco Systems Inc. The firm’s equipment has been used to build wide area networks in states such as Himachal Pradesh and Bihar.
Juniper, which employs 1,250 workers, including those in its research and development unit in Bangalore, has invested $200 million (Rs964 crore) in India. In September, it had committed to investing $400 million over five years.
Juniper does not share its India revenue numbers. Globally, Juniper earned revenues of $3.57 billion in 2008. In India, it has sales offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and New Delhi.
khushboo.n@livemint.com