Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister’s Aide Dubs Tax Raids As ‘Political Action’
The Madhya Pradesh CM’s aide also claimed that nothing objectionable was found against him in the two-day operation.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's former Officer on Special Duty Praveen Kakkar alleged that the income tax raids at his premises were politically motivated, and claimed that nothing objectionable was found against him in the two-day operation.
The Income Tax Department on Monday had said it detected a "widespread and well-organised" racket of collection of unaccounted cash of about Rs 281 crore during raids against close aides of Nath and others.
It said the sleuths recovered Rs 14.6 crore of "unaccounted" cash and seized diaries and computer files of suspect payments made between Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes said the department also detected a trail of Rs 20 crore suspect cash allegedly being moved to the “headquarters of a major political party in Delhi” from the house of an important person who lives on Tughlaq Road, home to many important persons.
However, Kakkar refuted the claims, saying he had nothing to do with "hawala" or funding of any political party.
Kakkar alleged that the I-T officials broke the door of his house to enter the premises, which was "wrong".
The family of Kakkar, a former Madhya Pradesh police officer, is associated with various businesses, including hospitality.
He had earlier served as officer on special duty to former Union Minister Kantilal Bhuria during the UPA regime.
The I-T department launched pre-dawn searches on Sunday at 50 locations in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh against people linked to Nath on charges of alleged tax evasion.
The searches concluded in Bhopal and Indore on Monday evening.