Mayawati's Ex-Secretary Raided: I-T Recovers Rs 1.64 Crore Cash, Mont Blanc Pens Worth Rs 50 Lakh From Retired IAS Net Ram's Premises
Officials said the former bureaucrat was "negotiating" for a Lok Sabha ticket from a party and that is when he came under the scanner of the tax department.
New Delhi, March 13: In an Income Tax department raid on the ex-secretary of BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, massive amount of unaccounted wealth and assets were recovered. The I-T sleuths, who cracked down on various premises linked to him in Delhi and Lucknow, recovered total cash of nearly Rs 1.64 crore, Mont Blanc pens worth Rs 50 lakh, four luxury SUVs and documents indicating benami assets upto Rs 300 crore.
The taxman had swooped down on a dozen premises linked to 1979-batch Indian Administrative Service officer Net Ram after it had "credible inputs" that the former top bureaucrat and his associates have made "accommodation or bogus entries of about Rs 95 crore from Kolkata-based shell firms" in the past, including in the post-demonetisation period. BJP Trying to Arm-Twist Opposition Through CBI: Mayawati.
They said after the over 26-hours long searches, the department has recovered a total of Rs 1.64 crore in cash from three houses in Lucknow and Delhi, while another Rs 50 lakh is believed to be stashed in a bank locker, which will soon be opened.
Officials said the former bureaucrat was "negotiating" for a Lok Sabha ticket from a party and that is when he came under the scanner of the tax department.
Officials also recovered Mont Blanc pens of Rs 50 lakh, four 'benami' luxury cars, including a Mercedes and two Fortuners, and documents that indicate illegal assets worth around Rs 225 crore.
Documents related to 30 shell firms, in which Net Ram's family members and in-law's were shareholders, have been recovered and are being scrutinised. The searches resulted in the detection of six properties in posh locations of Delhi (KG Marg and GK-I) and Mumbai (Babulnath on Charni road and Huges road) and three houses in Kolkata purchased "out of bogus share capital of Rs 95 crore", they said.
Net Ram was secretary to then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati during 2002-03, her third stint in power in the state. The officer has served in various capacities in UP, including heading the excise, sugar industries and cane department, stamp and registration, food and civil supplies department.
(With PTI inputs)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 13, 2019 07:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).