The Income Tax Department today raided wholesale onion dealers across the country in view of sudden spurt in the prices of this commodity. Official sources said the raids have been conducted in Bihar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Meerut, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Jammu and Surat. The raids came after reports that onion were being sold at exorbitant prices and tax was evaded by the dealers to make profits.The country's apex fair trade watchdog, Competition Commission of India, CCI has already instituted an inquiry into the rising prices of onions. Official sources said, the commission has asked its investigation wing headed by the Director General, to look into the possibility of the existence of cartels at various levels across the nation that are creating an artificial price increase and shortage of onions and submit the report. Meanwhile, the Government today said that it has initiated talks with Pakistan on the issue of ban on export of onions to India. Replying to a question on the issue the External Affairs Minister Mr. S.M. Krishna expressed the hope that a solution to ease the pressure on Onions will be found soon.Earlier, the Commerce Minister Mr. Anand Sharma had urged authorities in Pakistan to release the contracted quantities of onions. Pakistan had stopped 300 trucks carrying three thousand tonnes of onions to India. New Delhi is now trying to bring all those onions into the country via the sea route.Reports from Islamabad say that Businessmen have expressed disappointment over the Pakistan government's decision to ban onion exports to India via the land route, saying the move was not in the interest of bilateral trade or merchants who had bagged sizeable orders. The Vice-President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik said that such decisions hamper trade between the two countries and cause wastage of perishable goods. He said that this is neither in the interest of neither the government nor traders and consumers.