IT Department seizes Rs 1,000 crore worth assets belonging to Ajit Pawar

Mumbai, Nov 02: The Income Tax Department has seized assets worth Rs 1,000 crore belonging to Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar.

The IT Department informed him that it has provisionally attached several Benami properties liked to him. Among the assets that have been attached are a flat valued Rs 20 crore in South Delhi, Parth Pawar's office located at Nirmal House worth around Rs 25 crore, a sugar factory Jarandeshwar valued around Rs 600 crores, and a resort in Goa worth Rs 250 crore.

The agency also provisionally attached 27 pieces of land across Maharashtra. The combined value of this land is around Rs 500 crore. These properties are said to be owned by Ajit Pawar and his family.

He now has 90 days to prove that the attached properties were not purchased with Benami money. Till the probe is completed Pawar cannot sell any of these properties.

Last month, the IT Department had unearthed unaccounted income worth Rs 184 crore following searches at two real estate groups Mumbai said to be linked to Ajit Pawar.

The IT Department had said that the evidence gathered during the searches carried out at 70 premises spread across Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Baramati and Jaipur revealed several prima facie unaccounted and Benami transactions. The agency however did not name Pawar or his family members.

"Incriminating documents evidencing unaccounted income of about Rs 184 crore of the two groups have been found," a statement from the IT Department read. Pawar had said then that he had no problem with the searches against him. He was however upset that his sisters were being involved.

The agency had claimed that it had found that the two real estate companies had infused unaccounted funds across several companies through suspicious transactions with the involvement of an influential family of Maharashtra.

On October 7th the IT Department had searched a firm where Ajit Pawar's son, Parth Pawar is a director. A few firms owned by Pawar's sisters, two real estate firms linked to Ajit Pawar and a premises of directors of four sugar mills across Maharashtra reporteddly indirectly linked to the Pawar family were searched.