Chhattisgarh / Income tax raids issued from 5 days found evidence of benami transaction of 150 crores, officers were being given money illegally every month.
Raipur / Bhilai In the raids on the leaders, officers and businessmen in Chhattisgarh, the Income Tax Department has found evidence of benami transactions worth Rs 150 crores. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said on Monday that officers in the state were being illegally given large sums of money every month. CBDT gave this information for the first time after taking action on 25 bases in the last 5 days.
The action of the Income Tax Department in the state continued for the fifth day. On Monday afternoon, the Income Tax Department team reached the bungalow in Bhilai of Soumya Chaurasia, Deputy Secretary to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. Authorities also questioned Soumya. Earlier, the team also raided his bungalow on February 28, but the department sealed the bungalow when no one came forward even after 24 hours.
Chhattisgarh government said – Nothing was found, this is just a conspiracy
After the Income Tax Department, the Government of Chhattisgarh also issued a statement in this matter. The government said- There is no strong evidence of any kind mentioned in the statement issued by the Income Tax Department. The name of any person and organization is also not there. Also, no information about the seizure was given to anyone. The information given by the Income Tax Department suggests that he did not have any success. This is a conspiracy to destabilize the state government and create a panic in the state.
Baghel expressed his protest by writing a letter to Modi
Expressing displeasure over the action of the Income Tax Department, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Baghel described it as against the federal system. In this three-page letter, the use of central security forces in raids was also described as unfortunate and unconstitutional.
Respected @narendramodi Ji,
Our forefathers made a very careful provision of the federal structure in the Constitution. You have also mentioned it repeatedly as Chief Minister.
There have been actions by some central agencies hurting the provisions of the federal structure in Chhattisgarh …. pic.twitter.com/j0vFjwMGL9
- Bhupesh Baghel (@bhupeshbaghel) March 2, 2020
Action continues in Chhattisgarh from 27 February
The Income Tax team raided the officers, politicians and businessmen in Chhattisgarh in the morning of 27 February. 25 bases of 13 people were raided. Prominent among them are Raipur Mayor Ijaz Dhebar, former Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, IAS Anil Tuteja, CA Ajay Singhwani, hotelier Gurcharan Singh Hora, Mayor’s brother Anwar Dhebar, Dr. A Farishta, CA Sanjay Sancheti and CA Kamlesh Jain. All these people are said to be close to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. On Sunday, the Income Tax Department’s central team completed investigations at most places. However, some officers leading the operation are camping in Raipur. After this, the Congress government of the state started attacking the central government with raids.
Four days story
Day 1: Raiding 25 targets in half an hour of reaching Chhattisgarh
At 7.30 am on February 27, 105 officers of the Income Tax Department reached Raipur via chartered plane from Delhi. He was accompanied by 200 CRPF personnel. Half an hour later, the officer and jawan were divided into eight different teams. Raipur Mayor Ijaz Dhebar, Mayor’s brother Anwar Dhebar, former Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, IAS Anil Tuteja, CA Ajay Singhwani, Hotel Businessman Gurcharan Singh Hora, Dr. A Farishta, CA Sanjay Sancheti and CA Kamlesh Jain 25 from 8 am Raids on the bases together. A team reached Bhilai and raided the bungalow of Arunpati Tripathi, OSD, Excise Department, Sector-9.
Confrontation: Illegal parking action on vehicles of Income Tax team
On the first day at 8 pm, the Chhattisgarh Police locked the vehicles of Income Tax officers parked near Raj Talkies with a jack. At 12 o’clock, the traffic police took all the vehicles to the police line, telling them to stand in illegal parking.
Day 2: CM’s Deputy Secretary’s bungalow doesn’t open
At around 2 pm on February 28, the Income Tax Department team reached the bungalow at Surya Residency in Bhilai of Soumya Chaurasia, Deputy Secretary to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. When the door of the bungalow did not open, the key maker was called. Even after this, the team spent the night there when the door was not opened.
Chief Minister Baghel became active after 36 hours of raids
On February 28, at 7:30 pm, 36 hours after the raid began, the entire cabinet including Chief Minister Baghel reached the Raj Bhavan. There, he submitted a memorandum to the governor and protested against the raids. Describing the action of the Income Tax Department as unconstitutional, he also spoke of legal action. Earlier, BJP MLA Shivratan Sharma protested the seizure of vehicles of the Income Tax Department in the Assembly.
Third day: the team could not open the lock of Soumya’s bungalow even after 24 hours
Even after 24 hours had passed, the team of income tax officers could not open the door of the bungalow in Bhilai of Deputy Secretary Soumya Chaurasia. After this the bungalow was sealed. CBI teams from Bhopal and Delhi also reached Raipur and Bhilai at 10 am. At 12 noon, the Congress started a protest at Gandhi Maidan in Raipur to protest against the raids. The house at Baijnath Para, a former councilor close to Raipur Mayor Ejaz Dhebar and former councilor Afroz Anjum, was also raided.
50 officers were called from Mumbai, built a control room in the hotel
On Saturday, 50 Income Tax officers were called from Mumbai. The work of saving the information and documents found in the raids was started by creating a control room in a hotel. For this, the team sought 22 computers, printers and photocopy machines from the Income Tax Commissioner of Raipur.
Day four: Baghel arrives in Delhi, press in the afternoon
