I-T dept. attaches Ratul Puri’s Rs 300 crore Delhi bungalow
NEW DELHI : The Income Tax department has seized a Rs. 300-crore bungalow in Delhi under the anti-Benami law in its probe against Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
The tax department also seized foreign funds worth $40 million.
The bungalow, located at APJ Abdul Kalam Road in Delhi’s posh Lutyens’ zone, is in the name of a firm of the Moser Baer group, owned and promoted by Ratul Puri’s father Deepak Puri.
In April, tax officials conducted raids at Ratul Puri’s companies and had said they had found documents of illegal transactions and tax evasion worth Rs. 1,350 crore. It was on the basis of these raids that the tax department initiated proceeding under the anti-Benami law.
Sources in the I-T department said they also found unsecured loans to the tune of Rs. 370 crore.
Ratul Puri is also being probed in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case by the Enforcement Directorate on charges of money laundering. A Delhi court on Friday issued a non-bailable warrant against Ratul Puri, after the probe agency told the court that he was was non-cooperative and untraceable.Earlier this week, the court had dismissed an anticipatory bail plea by him in the case.
Last month, Income Tax department had attached Rs. 254 crore worth of “benami” or proxy-owned equity of Ratul Puri which he had allegedly received from a suspect in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case via shell companies, officials were quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
