In a significant development that sent shock waves through the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Income Tax (IT) department on Tuesday attached provisionally Rs 1,000 crore worth property linked to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar and his family.
The five properties that were attached provisionally included: Nirmal Tower (Rs 25 crore) at Nariman Point in south Mumbai, Jarandeshwar cooperative sugar factory (Rs 600 crore), a flat in South Delhi (Rs 20 crore) and a resort in Goa (Rs 250 crore). The Nirmal Tower property is purportedly owned by Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar.
The IT department has given 90 days’ time to prove that these properties have not been purchased through unaccounted money. Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who has been targeting the leaders of MVA on their unaccounted assets, tweeted: “Income Tax authorities have attached Ajit Pawar's son Parth Pawar's Nirmal Tower officer and that of his mother, wife, sisters and in-laws”.
NCP chief spokesperson and State minority affairs Minister Nawab Malik slammed Somaiya by saying that it was wrong on the latter's part to link relatives' properties with that of Pawar. “All this is being done to harass the MVA Government and its leaders,” he said.
Dubbing the IT action as “politically motivated”, NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew and MLA Rohit Pawar said that his uncle had already clarified last month in detail on the issue.
The IT action that came on the heels of its officials raiding a a group of middlemen and certain individuals some of whom are linked to Ajitdada—as Ajit Pawar is known in the state political circles.
In the raids on 25 residential and 15 official premises that began on September 23 and continued till October 7, the IT officials had found unaccounted transactions worth Rs 184 crore.
Also being searched during the raids were permanent suites booked in a five-star hotel in south Mumbai.