Open Misuse Of Central Agencies By Scared BJP: SP On IT Raids At MLC Pushparaj Jain's Residence

The Income Tax department raided multiple premises linked to perfume traders including SP MLC Pushparaj Jain and some others in Uttar Pradesh as part of a tax evasion investigation.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (Image: PTI File Photo)

New Delhi: After seizing a huge amount of over Rs 197 crore cash apart from 26 kg gold and a huge quantity of sandalwood oil from perfume merchant Peeyush Jain's residence in Kanpur, the Income Tax department is conducting raids at the residences of two more perfume traders in Kannauj.

According to ABP News sources, the raids are being conducted at Samajwadi Party MLC Pushparaj Jain 'Pampi' and perfume dealer Malik Miyan's house. The I-T Department began its raid at 7am in the morning on Friday. The Tax department has seized some documents related to Pushparaj Jain's companies in Kolkata, sources informed ABP News. 

Raids are being conducted at multiple premises linked to perfume traders and some others in Uttar Pradesh as part of a tax evasion investigation. According to a PTI report, searches are being conducted in Kannauj, Kanpur, the national capital region, Surat, Mumbai, and a few other places, and about 20 premises are being covered. 

What did the Samajwadi Party say about raids at Pushpraj Jain's Residence?

The Samajwadi Party (SP) said through a post on its official Twitter handle that the premises of its MLC Pushpraj alias Pampi Jain in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, have been raided.

Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is slated to hold a press conference at the SP office in Kannauj at 12:30 PM.

The party's Twitter post said the raids were launched by the "BJP government" soon after Yadav announced the media conference there and dubbed the action as an "open misuse of central agencies by a scared BJP."

Yadav had recently launched a perfume called 'Samajwadi ittra' prepared by Jain in the run-up to the assembly polls in the state that are expected to be held early next year.

The department is searching multiple locations of some entities linked to the perfume trade and related businesses, the sources said.

Who is perfume trader Malik Miyan?

Apart from the perfume trader and Samajwadi party legislator Pushparaj Jain  'Pampi', the IT department is conducting a raid at  Kannauj's biggest perfume merchant Malik Mian. It can also be said that because of Miyan, Kannauj's perfume has been recognised across the world.

After the death of Malik Mian, his three sons Abdul Rehman, Fauzan, and Abdullah are involved in the business of the perfume trade. Malik Mian's spn-in law Salman alias Guddu also works with them.

Some variety of perfumes sold by Malik Mian's perfume is worth Rs 2 lakh rupees per kg. The firm's major work is to export perfume and it attracts a huge business in Gulf. 

 The Income Tax department took immediate action after it obtained details from the Goods and Service Tax (GST) department about possible income tax evasion by perfume business entities and others by allegedly claiming bogus input tax credit, a PTI reported quoted officials related to the probe.

The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), an investigation agency under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), had recently carried out large-scale raids in Kanpur and Kannauj against Shikhar brand pan masala, a transporter, and others and later arrested perfume trader Peeyush Jain, seized over Rs 197 crore cash apart from 26 kg gold and a huge quantity of sandalwood oil.

The I-T department functions under the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

The DGGI raids and recovery of cash have triggered a war of words between political parties in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.