Income Tax Dept issues notices to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot aides

The Income Tax department has issued notices to Sunil Kothari, managing director of Om Metals; Ratan Kant Sharma, director of Mayank Sharma enterprises and Rajeev Arora of Amrapali jewels. The notices were issued under section 131 of the IT Act and they have been asked to join the investigation in the coming week.

This comes in the wake of the multi-city raids carried out by the department amidst the political crisis in Rajasthan. Those who have been issued notices by the IT department are reportedly close to Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot. 

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Unaccounted cash and jewellery seized

The notices have been issued after IT department seized unaccounted cash and jewellery in the raids carried out in Delhi, Jaipur, Kota, and Mumbai. 250 officials of the I-T department were part of the operation in which over 40 locations were raided.

"The Income Tax Department carried out search and survey operations on three groups on July 13. These operations are being carried out at 20 premises in Jaipur, 6 in Kota, 8 in Delhi and 9 in Mumbai," the I-T Department said in a statement.

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"Several incriminating pieces of evidence in the form of loose papers, diaries and digital data have been found indicating trading in bullion, in cash and investment of cash in properties. Further investigations are in process," the tax department said.

Sources say the IT department has seized jewellery worth Rs 1.7 crore and Rs 12 crore unaccounted cash. The IT department suspects that Gehlot's aides are involved in round tripping of funds. Under the scanner is also a car rental agency that was being run by Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot in which Hotel Fairmont's Ratan Kant Sharma has been a director.

Agencies suspected that the car rental agency had a share capital of only Rs 2 lakh while it had a beeline of luxury vehicles for high profile clients. So far, the ED has also summoned Ratan Kant Sharma to join the probe. The ED is looking at a transaction of around Rs 96 crore from Mauritius

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