HONEY: Crooks, tax raids and curious cats: ‘Naming Operation’ draws the spotlight on State GST Department

What do Middle-earth, the fictional setting of J.R.R. Tolkien’s popular fantasies, and the Harry Potter series have to do with tax raids in Kerala? When it comes to picking names for ‘operations’ launched against tax evaders, Tolkien’s and J.K. Rowling’s works are proving to be a treasure trove for the State Goods and Services Tax Department.

For instance, raids conducted in catering service units across the State on January 6 sported the name ‘Operation Crookshanks.’ In the Harry Potter adventures, Crookshanks is Hermione Granger’s ginger cat, which, as the story goes, possesses an uncanny ability to spot untrustworthy characters. The name, as it turned out, was spot on. The tax raids unearthed turnover suppression to the tune of ₹80.14 crore. Last October, the department conducted ‘Operation Honeydukes’ in restaurants. ‘Honeydukes’ is the sweet shop in Hogsmeade village, a favourite hang-out of the students of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Or take ‘Operation Prancing Pony,’ which in September 2025 targeted bar hotels suspected of turnover suppression and tax evasion. At first glance, the name seems randomly picked. But there’s a connection. In Tolkien’s works, Prancing Pony is the local inn in the village of Bree where the locals tended to gather. In The Lord of the Rings, it is described as a “pleasant house to familiar eyes.”

In August 2025, there was ‘Operation Arkenstone.’ Those raids unearthed turnover suppression worth more than ₹100 crore in jewelleries in Thrissur district. In Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit,’ Arkenstone is the “great white gem,” the “fairest of all,” considered the “heart of the Mountain.”

The names are chosen in-house by the department, according to State GST officials. “It’s fun. It provides a space for being creative,” said Sreelakshmi R., Additional Commissioner, State GST Department, on the choice of names.

But not all of the State GST Department’s extraordinary choices are from Tolkien or Rowling. For instance, a massive operation last May which broke the back of a racket engaged in recycling and selling industrial waste oil as ‘biodiesel’ was cryptically named ‘Fuego Marino.’ Equally enigmatic was ‘Operation Rare Raccoon’ which unearthed tax evasions in ready-mix concrete units in February 2025.

Then again, in 2024, raids which unearthed tax evasion running into crores in the metal scrap trade had been named ‘Operation Palm Tree.’ And in 2022, ‘Operation Prithvi’ unearthed tax irregularities in quarry/crusher units.

In 2023, the Kerala government had completed the restructuring of the State GST Department, targeting higher revenue inflow and tighter measures to check tax evasion. Tax inspections, a regular feature now with the government seeking to improve tax collection, are spearheaded out by the enforcement and intelligence wings of the department.