I-T raids 22 places in ?1,000 cr benami scam involving Lalu
The Income Tax Department conducted raids at 22 locations in Delhi and Gurugram on Tuesday in connection with benami land deals involving RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family. "There are allegations of benami deals worth about ?1,000 crore and subsequent tax evasion," an official said. The raids were conducted on people and businessmen connected to the deal.
The Income Tax department is conducting raids at 22 locations in Delhi and Gurgaon in connection with benami land deals linked to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.Officials said the department began raiding the premises of some prominent businessmen and real estate agents in Delhi, Gurgaon, Rewari and few others since early morning.The searches are also being conducted at the premises of the son of RJD MP P C Gupta and few other businessmen.While raids are being conducted at a dozen locations, ten other official premises are being surveyed by the department department, they said.RS 1000 CRORE BENAMI LAND DEAL "People and businessmen connected to the land deal involving Lalu Prasad and his family are being searched. There are allegations of benami deals worth about Rs 1,000 crore and subsequent tax evasion," a senior official said.The department searches come just days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had accused Lalu,his MP-daughter Misa Bharti and his two sons, both Bihar government ministers, of being involved in corrupt land deals worth over Rs 1,000 crore.Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had alleged that these transactions were a case of "quid pro quo" as they date back to the period when Lalu Prasad was the railway minister, and dared Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take action against himLalu's RJD is a constituent of Bihar's ruling coalition led by Kumar. His sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav are ministers in the government.Lalu's official residence was the address of the owners of the firms allegedly floated by his family members, he saidPrasad had also urged the Election Commission to act against Lalu's daughter Misa Bharti, saying she did not disclose the details of these assets in her Rajya Sabha election affidavit."The politics of Lalu Prasad has become politics of loot land worth crores of rupees was grabbed for a pittance," he said.'VADRA MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT'This was "Vadra model of development", Ravi Shankar said, referring to dubious land deals allegedly involving Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert VadraOne such land deal involving Lalu Prasad and his family members is in Bijwasan in Delhi, he said. "We expect the central government to take appropriate action," he added.All the companies owned by Lalu Prasad's family members for the purpose of these land transactions had no employees, no business activities and no turnover, Prasad claimed.Bihar's biggest shopping mall spread over 7.5 lakh square feet is coming up in Patna as part of such dubious transactions, the minister said. (With inputs from PTI) WATCH: Massive setback for Lalu Prasad as Supreme Court orders separate trials in fodder scamALSO READ: