Tax raids on land, real estate traders in 2 dists

Dumka: Income tax sleuths conducted raids at two dozen locations in Deoghar and Godda districts belonging to businessmen dealing in real estate and liquor.
The move is largely being viewed in the backdrop of the ongoing interrogation of liquor trader Yogendra Tiwari by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) investigating the land and liquor scams.
The IT sleuths from Patna and Dhanbad fanned out to the targeted locations belonging to the high-profile individuals of the temple town at 5 am which is still continuing.
The raids are reported to have been linked to the “illegal” sale of vast portions of lands and other properties, including a Deoghar-based Dharmshala belonging to the Charushila trust named after the then queen of the Pithoriya Ghaat royal family of Kolkata way back in 1940, by the violators by tempering the records.
Reacting to the raids in the temple town, Godda BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, through his X handle, claimed that the scam in terms of the illegal sale of such properties amount to more than Rs 1,000 crore.
Dubey had been the whistle blower against the alleged sale of the land and other immovable properties of “devottar” (meant for the deity) lands in the temple town allegedly in connivance with the local administrative stakeholders and land mafias.
Prominent among those whose residential and business premises are being raided include former mayor of the Deoghar Municipal Corporation Rajnarayan Khawade alias Bablu Khawade and his associates, including Umashankar Singh and Sanjay Malviya.
Apart from Khawade’s Hritik Raj Hotel and other locations, the IT department raids have been conducted at Hotel Anjula Mansion of Sanjay Malviya and his apartment.
Three installations of one Brajesh Rai said to have been dealing in the real estate, hospital businesses have also been raided including Jasidih based Siyaram Hospital and residential premises in Simariya and Saint Francis Mission Street.
Other places where the IT raids have been conducted include the residences of eminent contractor Mukesh Bajaj in Deoghar and Godda and those of a JMM leader Nandkishor Das.
“Having allegedly raised huge amount by the illegal sale of land and other properties of the Charushila and few other such trusts situated in the prime locations of the temple town, the violators also caused huge loss to the state revenue in terms of minimising the cost of the land registration,” the Godda MP stated, adding they had earlier warned that illegally occupied devottar lands be handed over to the respective trusts to evade legal recourse.