SRINAGAR: The Income Tax (IT) Department on Thursday is carrying out a raid at the residence of Hilal Ahmed Rather, son of former Jammu and Kashmir finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather in connection with misappropriation of loans from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank.
Hilal, a National Conference (NC) leader, however refutes the claims stating political victimization should be blamed for the raids, “These are baseless charges,” he said, reported Hindustan Times.
Raids are also underway at eight locations including Srinagar, Delhi-NCR and Ludhiana.
“During the search, it was detected that the tax evader [referring to Hilal and his group] has been given illegal benefit of Rs. 60 crore by the J&K Bank. His outstanding loan of Rs 190 crore was settled at Rs 130 crore, although he did not deserve any concessional treatment,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement issued late evening..
On June 15, the newly-constituted Jammu and Kashmir Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered a case against Deputy Mayor of Srinagar and Director of Kehwa Group, Sheikh Imran, officers of Jammu and Kashmir Bank and other government officials, for alleged misappropriation of subsidy worth crores of rupees.
On June 11, IT sleuths had raided the office and other business locations linked to Imran. Also, ten premises linked to Imran in Srinagar, Delhi, and Bengaluru were also raided.
The ACB had on June 8 had registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act to look into allegations related to illegal or fraudulent appointments made by the officials of Jammu and Kashmir Bank.
ANI inputs