In developments coming from Haryana, Sukumar Poriya, the personal secretary of Congress MLA from Adampur– Kuldeep Bishnoi, has been found dead in controversial circumstances on Tuesday. Sukumar had been working with Kuldeep Bishnoi since last 12 years.
It is important to note that just hours before this incident the Income Tax department had attached property worth Rs 150 crore, considering it as a ‘benami’ asset in the name of Kuldeep Bishnoi and his brother. Now the death of Sukumar is being seen linked to the whole issue and questions over a hidden link are also being raised.
This latest action by the I-T Department comes after it had conducted raids on 13 premises linked to Bishnoi in Haryana, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh on July 23 on charges of alleged tax evasion. The I-T department had said in an official statement after conducting the raids that foreign assets worth over Rs 200 crores allegedly linked to Bishnoi and his family had been detected and were being probed by it.
The order for the 150 crore worth Gurugram located Hotel Bristol, owned in the name of a company called Bright Star Hotel Private Ltd, was issued by Delhi Benami Prohibition Unit of the I-T Department. According to reports the order has been issued under section 24(3) of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988.
According to I-T sources, their probe found that a “front” company registered on the British Virgin Islands (BVI) being operated from the UAE held 34 per cent shares in Bright Star Hotel Private Ltd. The I-T sources have indicated that properties held by it are “the benami assets of Kuldeep Bishnoi and Chander Mohan (Bishnoi’s brother).”
The two brothers are son’s of late former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal. While Bishnoi is a Congress MLA from the Adampur constituency, Mohan is a former Deputy CM of the state.
According to sources, the I-T order indicated that the benami shareholders of the BVI entity are “close confidantes” of the Bishnoi family and the money required for acquisition of shares in Bright Star Hotel Private Limited was “arranged by the Bishnoi.”, it also indicated that the Bishnoi’s were “managing actual affairs” of the entity through their associates located in India and abroad.
Violations of anti-benami law attract a rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years and fine up to 25 per cent of the fair market value of the property. The law was enacted in 1988 but implemented from November 2016 by the Modi government.