india

Updated: Mar 21, 2019 09:54 IST

The Income Tax (I-T) Department has attached properties worth rupees 226 crore of retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Net Ram, principal secretary to Mayawati during one of her stints as Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

A total of 20 properties — seven in Delhi, three in Mumbai, seven in Noida and three in Kolkata — have been attached.

Their total value is around rupees 225 crore; the properties include farm houses, bungalows, flats and commercial properties, the department said.

Three luxury cars valued at rupees 1 crore have been also attached, including one Mercedes and two Toyota Fortuners, it added.

According to the department, the amount of 226 crore may go up further as 17 lockers found “during searches” are yet to be searched.

“Search action has revealed a sophisticated modus-operandi of money-laundering,” the department said. The I-T department on March 12 conducted raids at 11 premises at Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata and Bareily after it received credible evidence of large-scale tax evasion.

The searches also resulted in seizure of cash of rupees 2.03 crore and jewellery worth rupees 17.79 lakh, apart from incriminating documents.

Seized documents included a diary in the handwriting of the officer which contained details of the properties, acquired in the name of various companies with dummy directors, the department said.

The department added that Net Ram’s wife’s parents and other close associates of his assisted him.

Net Ram was principal secretary to Mayawati when she was the CM of UP during 2002-03.