Police detain 19 vehicles rented by I-T Deptt

 

THE state police and the central agencies have come to a conflict and politics is boiling high in Chhattisgarh over the Income Tax searches carried out on high-profile personalities in State Capital including Raipur Mayor and former Chief Secretary and RERA Chairman. After the I-T swoop on Thursday, Raipur Police detained 19 vehicles citing that they were parked at no-parking zone under suspicious condition. However, Raipur Police later clarified that the detention was part of alert that was being observed ahead of President of India’s visit to State Capital.

 

According to information received, Raipur Police in wee hours of Friday night detained 19 vehicles taken on rent by the sleuths of Income Tax Department, which conducted concurrent searches at the residence and establishments of Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, former Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand and others. While the tax officials were reportedly taking dinner at a hotel and the drivers were getting their vehicles filled with fuel at a petrol pump near Raj Talkies Raipur Police acted and detained the vehicles citing security measures.

 

“The detained vehicles were not of Income Tax Department. We didn’t know that the vehicles were rented by I-T Department and came to know about it from media. The allegation that action was under political pressure are baseless. The action was part of an exercise to ensure elaborate security arrangement for visit of President of India to Raipur,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shaikh Arif Husen while talking to The Hitavada.

 

In its statement, Raipur Police stated that several checking points across city have been made for frisking of suspicious vehicles as part of elaborate security arrangement in view of President of India’s visit to Capital. While undertaking checking on wee hours of Friday, 19 suspicious vehicles were found to be parked at no-parking zone near ‘Raj Talkies’. On being questioned, vehicle drivers failed to give satisfactory reply following which the vehicles were taken to lines and action was carried out according to Motor Vehicles Act. All the vehicles have been released and neither government probing agency have contacted Raipur Police in this connection nor informed that the vehicles belong to them. In view of President’s visit, the checking of vehicles will continue.

 

Senior officials confirmed that all the detained vehicles have been released after imposing fine of Rs 200 on each, totalling around Rs 3,600. On being asked about whether the move was politically motivated, Chhattisgarh’s Health Minister T S Singhdeo said thart it’s a process of Income Tax Department and they are performing it. “There should not be a situation of tussle between the government at the Centre and the State. I always believe, if we are in public domain then everyone should work and behave in such a way that public should not make a perception that Law is being taken into hands, Law is equal for everyone and all abide by it, if people feel otherwise then it is not healthy.

 

THE issue regarding seizure of vehicles carrying I-T officials by Traffic Police Department rocked the Assembly on Friday. Bharatiya Janata Party Legislator Shivratan Sharma while raising the issue in the House alleged that the police administration is creating hurdles in the way of I-T officials and not allowing them to execute their duties.

Shivratan Sharma said that he has taken up the issue in the House just to put on record and for information to the Chair. He said that I-T Department is carrying out operations at the premises of several influential officials and businessmen since yesterday. On Friday, vehicles of I-T officials were seized on the pretext of being parked in ‘No Parking Zone’. Ironically no challans were issued against the offence, he said. He said that this action has been taken just to stop I-T officials from executing their duties. As the information was given in the House by the BJP MLA, the Opposition Legislators shouted ‘shame’ slogan.

 

Meanwhile, talking to mediapersons in the Assembly Annex, Food Minister Amarjit Bhagat claimed that the Centre has unleashed revenge politics through misuse of Central agencies. He added that after BJP was uprooted in Assembly, Urban Bodies and Panchayat elections, it has let loose pressure politics in connivance with their central leadership. He said that the BJP has unleashed revenge politics in the whole country as it is fearing the rebounding of the Congress.

 

Shivratan Sharma while talking to mediapersons at Assembly annex said that the Income Tax Department has its own procedures. It has conducted operations here after it got information about disproportionate assets. Till the reports of the operations are made public, it is inappropriate to make any kind of statement regarding the ongoing I-T operations. Reacting to a query on seizing vehicles of I-T officials, Sharma said that the ruling Congress Government is a government which doesn’t want to check crimes, on the contrary it wants to shield people indulged in crime. If 20 vehicles of I-T officials have been seized, it is a serious issue.

 

It is worth mentioning here that in one of the biggest-ever crackdowns in Chhattisgarh against tax evasion, sleuths from Income Tax Department carried out pre-dawn swoop covering multiple premises of high-profile personalities including Raipur Mayor Aijaz Dhebar, Mayor’s brother and realtor Anwar Dhebar, former Chief Secretary and Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Chairman Vivek Dhand, IAS officer Anil Tuteja, his wife Meenakshi Tuteja, Dr A Farishta, businessman Gurucharan Singh Hora, realtor Kamlesh Jain, two chartered accountants Ajay Sindhwani and Sanjay Sancheti and excise department’s Special Secretary and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Arunpati Tripathi. This massive income tax action was the fallout of massive political funding done in recent past elections of Chhattisgarh.