Following a three-day raid on senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and his associates, the Income Tax department suspected a tax evasion of more than Rs 800 crore by the SP leader. Income tax sleuths, who arrived at Khan's residence on Jail Road in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur, at 7 am on Wednesday, concluded their search on Friday evening.
After the officials left his residence around 7 pm on Friday, Khan came out abd said "It was an Income Tax department raid. They were here for three days, conducting searches and asked questions." Khan declined to provide additional details or answer further questions.
Raids at more than 30 locations
The income tax department raided more than 30 locations in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on September 13 as part of a tax evasion investigation against Khan. According to the news agency PTI sources, the department has conducted raids in Rampur, Saharanpur, Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh apart from some premises in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
In Ghaziabad, the Income Tax department conducted a raid at a residence located in Rajnagar Colony on Wednesday. This house is associated with Ekta Kaushik, who is believed to have close ties to Khan's family. The Income Tax investigation is linked to certain trusts operated by Azam Khan and members of his family.
The scope of the probe by the I-T department expanded, with sleuths reaching the Public Works Department and district panchayat office, as well as Muhammad Ali Jauhar University, which is led by Khan.
Rs 800 crore tax evasion suspected
According to sources, the government expenditure records are being under scrutiny as there is suspicion of tax evasion amounting to over Rs 800 crore by the politician.
Samajwadi Party on raids
The Samajwadi Party strongly reacted to the raids, pledging support to Khan and alleging that the BJP government was engaged in "dictatorship" and the "misuse of central agencies."
"Azam Khan saheb is the voice of truth. He laid the foundation for a better future for children and built a university for education,” the party said in a post on X in Hindi following the raids on Wednesday.
“Khan has always fought against communal forces. We all stand united with his voice,” it said.
Countering the allegations about misuse of central agencies, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said the central agencies were well within their rights to take action to make “Bharat corruption-free”.
Last year, Khan was convicted by a court in a hate speech case over his remark made during a public meeting in Khatanagaria village in the Milak Kotwali area in 2019. After being sentenced to three years in prison for the hate speech case, Khan was disqualified as an MLA from Rampur. Subsequently, he was acquitted by a higher court in this case. However, his disqualification was not overturned due to his conviction in another case.
(With PTI inputs)
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