Income Tax department gets Rs 11 crore in cash, jewellery, FDs from Ponty Chadha

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department had seized Rs 11 crore in cash, jewellery and fixed deposits and sealed 13 bank lockers during the searches of the premises of liquor baron Ponty Chadha a fortnight ago for alleged tax evasion.

"During the search held on February 1, cash of Rs 2.03 crore, jewellery and ornaments of the value of Rs 5.18 crore, fixed deposits of Rs 4.4 crore and a large number of documents were seized.

"Further, restraint orders on 13 bank lockers and two other premises are pending. The search is yet to be completed," Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) spokesperson Anuja Sarangi said in a statement today.

The CBDT, which is the administrative authority of the I-T department, also denied reports Chadha, who has business interests in real estate and liquor in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab, was tipped off about the searches.

"It has been reported in some sections of the media that there has been a leak in a search case conducted recently by the Income Tax department on a 'liquor baron'. It is also being reported in the media that CBDT has instituted an inquiry into the matter.

"As the matter is still under investigation, these media reports are without any factual basis and speculative," the statement added.

Chadha had earlier denied seizure of Rs 100 crore by the I-T from his Noida mall and has promised to extend full cooperation to tax authorities in their probe of alleged tax evasion in his various businesses.

I-T department had begun the operations on Chadha and his associates on February 1, covering 13 locations in Delhi including at the posh Sainik Farms, Lajpat Nagar, New Friends Colony while in Uttar Pradesh, I-T teams comprising 200 officials, undertook similar operations at six locations in Noida, Moradabad and state capital Lucknow.