Mumbai Cong chief facing probe, I-T dept tells HC

MUMBAI: Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh continues to be in the dock. Income-tax department and the anti-corruption bureau of Maharashtra on Thursday informed Bombay High Court that the probe into allegations of accumulation of unaccounted wealth by former state minister and MLA Kripashanker Singh and his family members is still on.

On behalf of ACB, additional deputy commissioner of police, Sheshrao Suryawanshi filed an affidavit saying "a probe was in progress and the government was informed about the allegations made in the petition. The property documents of Mr Singh and his family are being verified," he said. Mr Singh, on the other hand, denied allegations saying these were politically motivated and levelled against him by petitioner Sanjay Tiwari to slur his image in the society.

The affidavit said one of the main complaints against Mr Singh and his family related to money laundering and his close links with former chief minister of Jharkhand Madhu Koda.

“The same is already under investigation by central agencies. The property of respondents (Singh and family members) is spread in more than one state", the affidavit notes.

In another affidavit, Kailash Mangal, deputy director of income tax (investigation), said his department had already commenced probe in March after a complaint was filed by the petitioner. "I-T have started collecting information from the concerned persons", he said.

The I-T officer said Tiwari had filed the petition in a hurry without waiting for the outcome of I-T probe, and urged the court to dismiss the petition.