The Income Tax (IT) department on Tuesday (30 July) announced that it has attached benami shares worth Rs 254 crore belonging to Rataul Puri - the nephew of senior Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Hindu Business Line has reported.

These shares have been attached under the Benami Property Transactions Act. Puri was recently questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and he once evaded interrogation by fleeing from the ED office on pretext of going to the washroom.

The IT department has alleged that Puri received these shares from a suspect in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam via shell companies. These shares were part of an FDI investment in Optima Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, part of the Moser Baer group led by his father Deepak Puri.

This investment of Rs 254 crore is said to have been generated via “over-invoicing of imports of solar panel” facilitated through shell companies owned by VVIP chopper scam accused Rajiv Saxena.