Income Tax Department sleuths on Tuesday conducted raids at several properties owned by the Deputy Mayor of Srinagar city, Sheikh Imran.
These raids have been conducted just few days afterAnti-Corruption Bureau initiated investigation into alleged misconduct inJ&K Bank.
I-T sleuths raided eight premises in Jammu and Kashmir’ssummer capital Srinagar and one each in Delhi and Bengaluru of the KehwahGroup, promoted by Sheikh Imran.
In Srinagar, the searches were conducted in the Bohri Kadalarea of Downtown and seven other nearby locations.
“A team of I-T department officials from Chandigarh wereaccompanied by the local officials along with the police and CRPF personnel.The team seized several documents which would be assessed and scrutinized toascertain facts,” said a senior official.
Surabhi Ahluwalia, Commissioner of Income Tax for Media& Technical Policy, in a written statement issued to media, said: “None ofthe members of the (Kehwa) group is regular in filing their Income Tax Returns.As a one-time settlement, the group has got their loans of Rs 170 crore withJ&K Bank restructured for a sum of Rs 77 crore, out of which, payment ofonly Rs.50.34 crore to the J&K Bank has been made so far and balance ofRs.27.66 crore is yet to be paid.”
“During the search, evidence has been detected indicatingthat the onetime settlement of the loan from J&K Bank has been done throughthe active connivance of a senior J&K Bank officer who was receivingseveral out of turn promotions. Furthermore, evidence has also been unearthedindicating that the repayment of Rs 50.34 crore pertaining to the said loan hasbeen green fielded by the J&K Bank by granting loan of similar amount to anassociate who has confessed to his role in layering the entire transaction,”she said.
“During the search, incriminating evidence has also beenfound relating to: sale of undisclosed property amounting to Rs 22 crore, agreementto sell Transport business for Rs.9.10 crore, undisclosed profit of Rs 15 croreto Rs 20 crore on account of sale of Cold Storage plant at Lassipora. The costof this project was found to have been inflated to Rs 47 crore instead of theactual cost of Rs 17 crore, for claiming more subsidy from the government byraising inflated and bogus bills,” she added.
“The loan for this project was taken from J&K Bank.undisclosed properties at Sonmarg (Rs.2.68 crore), Pahalgam (Rs.3.55 crore) andBangalore (Rs.1.00 crore). one shop in partnership in Delhi purchased forRs.1.02 crore. During the search, digital evidence found has been seized,analysis of which is in progress.”
The official, who provided the information, said such raidswill continue.
Sheikh Imran, who recently joined People’s Conference led bySajjad Lone, has mostly remained in news for his altercations with SrinagarMayor Junaid Mattu, who also belongs to PC. His joining PC came as a surprise as he won ULB elections as independentcandidate and was later backed by the Congress to claim post of Deputy Mayor.
Sheikh Imran who runs his business under the name of KehwahGroup was once declared by the J&K Bank as defaulter who owed bank over Rs100 crore. However, later Imran claimed to have settled his loans.
Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor, Sheikh Imran said he will providefull cooperation to the I-T Department.
“I am fully supportive of all investigations to ensuretransparency and adherence to income tax laws. I extend my full cooperation tothe I-T Department. I’m a law abiding businessman and will continue to ensurethe laws are upheld,” he said.
Imran refused to divulge any further details about thequestions being asked by the I-T sleuths.
The action comes in the backdrop of sacking of J&KBank’s chairman Parvez Ahmed Nengroo on allegations of corruption, nepotism andfavouritism and ACB probe.
The Anti Corruption Bureau was established in J&K a fewmonths ago. The state government holds 59 percent stake in the J&K Bank.
After his removal, Nengroo in a Twitter post said he hasabsolutely no regret over his work and that he did his job “mostdiligently, honestly and in the best interest of the institution”.