IT dept seizes ₹ 1,000 crore worth assets of Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar

The Income Tax department has seized assets worth ₹ 1,000 crore across Maharashtra, Delhi and Goa in the raids linked to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, officials said on Tuesday (November 2).

Sources told NDTV that five properties, including Nirmal Tower at Nariman Point in Mumbai, have been seized. The attached properties include a cooperative sugar factory, according to officials, another news report in Hindustan Times said.

The action was reportedly taken by the I-T department after discovering an unaccounted income of about ₹184 crore last month during the massive search operation conducted at the houses and firms owned by Pawar’s sisters last month.

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However, the NCP leader had last month denied any wrongdoing and insisted that “all the entities” linked to him have regularly paid taxes.

“We pay taxes every year,” he had said, adding that since he is the Finance Minister, he is aware of the fiscal discipline. “All entities linked to me have paid taxes,” Pawar said, according to media reports.

On the alleged misuse of probe agencies, he had commented that he is “upset” because  the premises of his sisters, who got married 35 to 40 years ago, have been raided. “If they were raided as Ajit Pawar’s relatives, then people must think about it…the way the agencies are being (mis)used,” he had pointed out.